Operation Re-birth
by sisily817
Summary: After awakening in a distant future, Prince Demande and Saphir find they are still alive and that Planet Nemesis is self destructing. In order to escape, they must travel to the Earth of the past where their former foes still reside. But many things have changed since their last encounter. A new plan has been set for them to reclaim what's rightfully theirs.
1. Prologue-Nemesis

"Sailor Moon, I'm sorry I lied to you before…I did love you"

"Demande!"

 _Silence….Darkness…._

His eyelids feeling heavy, opened to what felt like the longest slumber of his life. At first, all he could do was look around at the vast nothingness that surrounded him. It was quiet.

' _Where am I,'_ he weakly thought. Then the grim reality hit him, ' _That's right, I died.'_

He laid in the same position for a few moments until he found that he started to regain feeling in his body. First through his fingertips then up his appendages, to the rest of his body. He then slowly emerged from his paralyzed state and was finally able to survey the area around him. What seemed like endless blackness at first, finally gave image to structures that seemed all too familiar to him. He was back on Nemesis.

"I don't understand…I-I'm alive," he muttered to himself. His throat was sore, actually his whole body was sore and his head was fuzzy. How long had he been here like this? Rising from the cold floor, like a toddler taking his first steps, he tried to walk through his palace, but, as he started to make his way to his throne room he noticed everything looked the same but different.

Everything seemed to be broken down, not in a damaged way but, abandoned, almost as if everything had been eroded by time. The once magnificent, white columns were now cracked and dirty, as were the floors and the walls through the many hallways. When he finally managed to reach his throne room, he was shocked to see the throne that had always given him so much solitude was covered in cobwebs and the metal supporting it had completely rusted. As he started to reach out to his once lavish throne, he looked down at his arm and noticed that the sleeve to his suit was not only discolored and grey but tattered. He immediately checked the rest of his suit to find that he appeared to be wearing nothing more than mere rags as his blue embroidery had completely faded, the diamond jewels were dulled to a point you couldn't recognize them as gems and his cape was missing altogether. As he patted and checked the rest of himself he noticed that he was still wearing his earrings that were made from the _Jakokusuishou._ He took one out of his ear to examine and found that it was perfectly preserved as the last time he saw it, but of course something as powerful as the dark crystal couldn't be so easily damaged. Wiseman had shown him how to fully harvest it's power and he recalled that in his dying moments he seemed to have been defeated as well but he knew better than to think a creature as powerful as him could be killed off that easily.

Before he could dwell more on this, he all of a sudden heard a noise coming from the distant corridors of the palace making its way towards the area. ' _Could it be…Wiseman?_!' He panicked. As fast as his frail body would allow, he made his way to the entrance he came through and hid behind the doorway so he could use the few moments until Wiseman discovered he was alive to plan something. Without his strength, he didn't know how he was going to take on someone who had already essentially 'killed' him. But, as the noise made its way closer to the throne room something occurred to him.

' _Could I be in one of his illusions? It would explain why this once glorious palace had transformed into a decrepit, rundown hole overnight. He could just be trying_ _to deceive me using his mental warfare to have me question my own sanity,'_ though it was already working if that's the case _._

With his back against the wall and his ear peered next to the entryway, he could hear the noise was making its way into the throne room now, but, he soon was able to pick up that the noise approaching was actually footsteps. Since Wiseman is a creature that hovers and transports there would be no way that those footsteps could belong to him but he still wanted to be cautious. With curiosity getting the better of him, he poked his head out slightly to get a good look at this person. All of a sudden a figure walked into the room but he couldn't make out who the figure was, only that it was a man. The more he watched the figure, he could see that each step he took was delayed, indicating that the man may be injured. The man kept walking until reaching the front of the ascending steps to the throne and stopped before looking upon it.

Then a familiar voice began to speak, "W-What is going on..why does everything look different?"

Immediately recognizing the voice and letting his guard down, Prince Demande made his way towards the familiar figure, "Saphir is it really you?!"

"Nii-san!" He shouted. They both weakly made their way towards each other before stopping until they were just a few feet apart and looked at each other for a a long time with shocked expressions examining one another. Saphir's clothes were a tattered mess just like his but he, himself didn't look any different than the last time he saw him…before Wiseman killed him. After a while Demande decided to break the silence, "Saphir is it really you? This must be an trick because there's no way you could still be alive but, even if it is just an illusion…just to see you again is incredible and I only wish I could let you know how sorry I am for not believing you, my only brother, who has always been so loyal to me. I know you were just trying to warn me about Wiseman and I let him manipulate me to the point where I lost sight of our original goal and I let my clan down...if there's even anyone from our clan left."

Losing his strength, Saphir sat on one of the steps giving a slight smile and just stared out into nothing. "I don't understand it myself how I am still alive, it's strange, the last memory I have is a bright light growing larger and larger coming towards me and then nothingness. As vengeful as one might be after going through something like that, what gave me peace is hearing your voice at my final moments, defending me, and that's how I knew that I wasn't alone, that's how I knew that you still saw me as your brother. No matter what happens you're my family and the leader of our people and I could never hate you."

Demande sat beside him feeling a slight weight being lifted off his shoulders as he looked out into the empty room as well. After a few minutes of being trapped in his thoughts, he suddenly began to remember the horrible events that took place before he woke up and then he finally sighed, "You may not feel vengeful but Wiseman betraying me, killing our comrades and making me look like a fool is not something I can take lightly. If he is still out there, he will pay for what he's done."

Saphir finally looked back at him and started to chuckle. Taken aback Demande took his gaze off the empty room and onto his brother, "What?"

"I'm sorry it's just in our present state I don't think there's much we could do. I know it's not funny but, I never thought I'd see my brother, the Prince, wearing scraps for clothing." He continued to chuckle. Demande just looked at him then started to laugh as well, just seeing at how pathetic Saphir looked he could only imagine his appearance. After a moment of their heart to heart he decided to bring up the obvious question, "Seriously Saphir, what do you think happened here? One minute I am laying on my death bed, which seeing you here now I can confirm that I was indeed dead, then I woke up and now everything is different. I assumed I had only been alive days ago but looking around, it looks like years have passed if that's possible."

He responded, "I'm not sure as well. Everything around us including our tattered rags suggest that while our bodies were being perfectly preserved in a comatose state, time has passed through maybe centuries leaving Nemesis now a desolate wasteland. Before I came in here I looked through most of the palace and there seemed to be no one here but us. Though I would suggest we keep loo-" he abruptly stopped.

A slight tremor could be felt all of a sudden between them. They immediately jumped to their feet and looked at each other. After a few moments of being still, they felt it again but it was stronger this time. "What's going on?!" Demand shouted. Soon after, the tremor stopped and after a few moments started again but became more vigorous this time to the point where they could start to see the columns visibly shaking and breaking down. "This is bad, we need to go or the whole place is going to collapse on us!" Saphir said in a panicked state. "But wher-?" Saphir already grabbed Demande by the sleeve running with a destination in mind. Still in a weakened state Demande breathlessly shouted, "Where are we going?!"

Saphir yelled back, "When I first woke up I was in the room that had held the Malefic Black Crystal reactor and although it was dusty, it was still intact. I think I can still get it to work!"

' _That's right, when I brought Saphir's dead body back from the past, I laid him on an altar in that room and then got caught up in trying to fulfill our plans before I was able to lay him to rest in our family's mausoleum. How could I have possibly thought that was more important?'_

Once Demande was out of his thoughts he realized that they had reached their destination. With the tremors stopping momentarily, Saphir immediately got to work on getting the reactor started but with how long it's been since the last time it ran, who knows how long that would take. "Shit! There's so many layers of dust and rubble I can hardly see what the Hell I'm doing on the control panel!"

At that moment, Prince Demande of Nemesis finally realized that they were about to leave their planet, their home forever. Yes, he had intended on conquering Earth for it was a more resourceful and beautiful planet but he never anticipated for their ancestral grounds to be completely lost to them.

Luckily, Saphir was eventually able to turn on the reactor and now they just needed it to completely power up but as he impatiently waited he couldn't help but look at his brother and worry for him because he too, was feeling the same way. Even though his brother was a prince who had everything handed to him and people grovel over him his whole life, he knew that he truly felt dedication towards this planet and it's people giving him purpose. Wherever they would go from here, he would no longer be a prince but a normal man. The tremors started again then stopping, the gaps of peace in between becoming shorter each time. As the quakes began to progressively become more violent, this made them nervous on if the building would fall around them before they could be able to use the reactor. Fate would be cruel to have them cheat death and reunite with each other only to have it taken away from them again.

In another moment of stillness Saphir excitedly exclaimed, "It's about to be at full power, when I give the word we need to go!" While he was happy that they actually had a chance to make it out alive, all he could do is look at his brother who continued to gaze out into the empty room with a somber look on his face. Saphir put his hand on his brother's shoulder breaking his gaze, "Nii-san there is nothing here for us anymore, everyone is gone whether this quake happened or not, besides, we can finally start our new life on Earth like we always wanted."

"Earth?" he looked back at him.

"Of course, where else would we go? The settings were already programmed to travel there from our past missions. Unfortunately I could hardly see what time I set it to with all that dust in the way so we'll see what year it takes-ah!" The tremor this time was the strongest one yet sending both of them off balance. The walls were starting to break down and crumble as well, they looked up to see clumps of dust and dirt fall on their head from the ceiling above them that was wearing down fast. The quake was getting more violent and not showing any promise of the building holding up for too long. Until finally a miracle happened, "Nii-san look, the reactor's at full power and ready, we have to go now!" Both of them rose up off of the cold, cracked floors below them and looked at each other and then back to their empty palace that they grew up in one last time before jumping into the past. At that moment as the two young brothers from Nemesis disappeared, the palace preceded to collapse around the reactor, there was no coming back.


	2. Chapter 1-Rough beginnings

_Once again he was met with the isolation of quiet and darkness…._

Demande opened his eyes being met with once again the all too familiar blackness around him. As his vision cleared, he could see the random flickers of street lights sparsely placed in the distance that would suggest it was night time on Earth. Using what little strength he had left, he sat up feeling as though he had felt the brunt power of Wiseman's energy once again. The only thing that he could even think about right now is locating Saphir, he should be somewhere close by.

' _I hope he's okay'_ he thought.

He struggled to lift himself up at first but eventually was able to stand. He started to walk through the area, the ground was rough beneath him, as his shoes were now missing from his feet and the material to his pants were completely torn off below his knees. His clothes were already barely being held together as it was, but the journey from Nemesis to Earth must have been a rough one. If he was a sight for sore eyes back then, he could only imagine what an Earthling might think if he was spotted, he needed to find Saphir quick.

With luck on his side, he spotted a large, dark mass a distance away from him. He stumbled over to it until he could get a closer look and it was indeed, Saphir. He was still out cold and in the same condition as himself, with his garb barely holding onto him and his body scratched and bruised, they must have had one hell of a landing.

With one hand, he gently shook his shoulder, not too intensely, but enough for him to feel it, "Saphir are you alright? It's me, please wake up." He whispered in his ear.

He started to move slightly and soon after began to wake up. "Ni-Nii-san did we make it?" he could barely choke out.

"Yes we're here on Earth," he replied. "I know it's hard right now but we need to hide and come up with a plan, because of our appearance right now, we'll draw attention if anyone finds us."

Saphir nodded slightly and attempted to pull himself off the ground. When Demande saw how much he was struggling, he helped him up the rest of the way. With Saphir's arm around his shoulder, Demande made his way towards….well he didn't exactly know where but, they needed to get to a secluded area before they could be spotted by anyone. Noticing a dark, alleyway up ahead he decided that it would have to do until they could regain some of their strength. He dragged Saphir though the empty space between two buildings before they plopped down onto the cold, cemented ground. Normal men would have been dead at this point for what they've went through, but, their ancestors adapting to the harsh environment of Nemesis made them a more vigorous breed of people and therefore, can endure more than the average Earthling ever could.

They sat against the brick walls of the tall buildings while catching their breaths and recovered some of their strength, they were both so exhausted. "What do we do now?" Saphir asked.

Demande replied, "I'm not sure, I wasn't here very long when I traveled to the past back then. Esmeraude and Rubeus were the ones that spent the most time here so I never got to learn about how things were run in 20th century Earth. At the time I didn't think it mattered because once I would've conquered it, they would have had to adapt to my way of living, not the other way around. What about you?"

"I didn't spend but maybe a half a day here and was unconscious through most of it, me and Petz talked for a little bit about her new life on Earth but with the urgency of the situation that was going on at the time with Wiseman, it prevented us from delving too far into it. I wonder if we're in a time where the Spectre sisters are alive, maybe they could help us." He started to get lost his thoughts, but then spoke again.

"Demande, there was something that I didn't get to bring up back on Nemesis with all that was going on but something just hit me. I think I know how we were able to be brought back from death." Saphir admitted. He then pulled out a pair of the earrings made from the Jakokusuishou from his jacket pocket. "When I first woke up I found that I was wearing them which I found strange since I had always avoided every putting them, do you know something about this?"

Demande with a guilty look on his face seemed to recall something he had neglected to tell him, "I'm sorry I know that you always distrusted this power and thought that it would somehow warp your way of thinking but, when I lost you, I was so devastated that I took out a pair of the black crystal earrings that I had always saved for you, hoping that one day you would come to accept it, and then gave you a full boost of the Jakokusuishou. I figured that if the Queen could be brought back using the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou from her previous life, then maybe this could be done using the same method with our power. Even though I had never heard of it being used for this purpose before, I thought that it would be still worth a try."

Saphir just looked at him for a moment and sighed, "You're right I did think being over excessive with the black crystal wasn't a good idea. I saw that it's power consumed the mind to a point where everyone changed to become too rash and power hungry, even you, Nii-san."

All Demande could do was hang his head in shame.

"But I'm glad that you did what you did because I think you were on to something in this theory of yours. I don't understand how it only affected us, but we're fortunate enough to be given a second chance at life."

Relieved that his brother wasn't mad at him, Demande smiled back at him.

Saphir then exclaimed, "I have an idea! If gems are as valuable on Earth as they are on Nemesis, then maybe we can acquire some currency selling what's still attached to our clothing, I'm sure we'd be able to make a decent amount! Petz and her sisters were able to purchase a home with the currency they made from working and seemed to be very content with how they were living. It could be a start for us at least to learn how to live amongst these humans."

"That's a good idea!" he replied. "Question is, how are we going to get around anywhere looking like this? If we walk in with expensive gems looking like common beggars, they'll think we stole them."

"I'm not sure about that yet either, but let's just remove them from our clothing for now and maybe we can come up with an idea." Saphir began to pull each of the saphires off his jacket one by one and then Demande began to follow suit.

While pulling the gems off and cleaning each one, three men appeared to have taken notice of them. One man was holding onto another one, being led, just as Demande did for Saphir earlier but it didn't seem like he was aware of his surroundings. Something seemed off about them. It was hard to make out their appearance, all they could tell is that they seemed to be older, for Earth's lifespan that is. The other two, were stumbling towards them just giggling and staring at them until one finally spoke, "Hey, you think these guys have any cash on them? I'm getting dry here.." Demande noted that his speech was slurred and unclear.

"Nah, can't you see that these guys are hobos. How pathetic, I bet they don't even have a single yen on them." The other man replied. Then he began to take notice of what they were holding. "Wait hold on…they seem to have some jewels."

Distracted by the interaction with these strangers, Demande and Saphir looked down and realized that they were holding out numerous gems of diamonds and sapphires in their hands. I guess this confirmed on if Earth civilians found value in these or not.

The first man spoke again, "How are we going to get more booze with jewels?" He was much more inebriated than his friend.

The second man replied, "You idiot forget about getting more drunk than you already are, we can make a fortune with all those! Set Satoshi down over there and I'll take the old man while you get the smaller one, no one's going to care about what happens to these bums." Demande's face was so covered in dirt, hiding his youthful face that seeing his white hair must have given him the impression that he was of the elderly.

The first man did as instructed and set the friend he was holding up down on the ground against the wall. By this time he was completely passed out drunk. The thugs approached them now trying to intimidate them. Saphir and Demande looked at each other and then stood up facing the two men, the bossy one who was supposed fight Demande looked nervous for a moment when he saw how tall he was in comparison, but then changed into fighting stance ready to mug him.

Even in their weakened state this fight wouldn't be much of a challenge, they were both intoxicated with no plan. The sloppily drunk man then, immediately made his way towards Saphir at full charge with his hand going in for the punch. Saphir simply caught his hand, grabbed the man's arm and swung him until he slammed into the brick wall, knocking him out cold. Saphir stood over the man and examined him with his back turned and Demande looked over in that direction as well, the other man took this opportunity to bum rush Saphir punching him in the back of his head, making him collapse to his knees.

"You fucking coward!" Demande was so angry he ran over him and directed his punch full force into the man's face but then something curious happened. When his jab made contact with his face, a burst of energy escaped consuming the man's head until it completely disintegrated. He was dead.

Demande held out his palms in front of him looking at them in shock. Sapir still on his knees looked directly above him as the blast was only a foot above his head, he wasn't expecting that.

Demande immediately took action. "Saphir grab that man's clothes and change into them," he pointed at the man who had been passed out through the whole ordeal. He was smaller in frame than the other man who was knocked out so his clothes would fit more appropriately on him. Saphir saw where he was going with this and followed his brother's orders, stripping the man and changing from his own into normal, civilian clothing. Demande quickly began undressing the man Saphir fought and started changing into his clothes as well. They smelled so much like alcohol, it made him want to vomit. The man was overweight so his clothes fit loosely but he had a hooded jacket which would be beneficial to him. Saphir grabbed a bag that was owned by one of the men and began gathering up all the gems and their clothes they changed out of stuffing them inside before making a quick exit.

They walked in silence for what seemed like hours until they reached a pier that gave a stunning view of a large pond that was surrounded by greenery, trees and flowers. It was as if they knew to walk in this direction. Everything they had ever wanted as kids growing up was all right here and now.

They were so distracted in their thoughts about everything that had just taken place that they didn't even notice that the night was ending and the sky began to get lighter. They stood at the edge of the pier and looked out at the breathtaking site that was before them. All feeling of anger and anxiety seem to disappear with the night.

"Look Nii-san the sun is coming up! Let's get closer to the water and watch it!" Saphir ran down from the pier and next to the body of water where the grass was and just sat and gazed into the beauty of the rising sun changing the sky to various shades of pinks and oranges, he had never seen such magnificence. Demande followed and sat next to him. He was amused with Saphir's excited state and would go back and forth watching the sunrise and then his reaction again, he hadn't seen him this ecstatic since they were kids when they once discovered a flower that had been growing on Nemesis. Back then he had promised that they would one day be in a whole field of flowers, he only half believed it at that time but to actually be living in it now is truly a miracle.

Nemesis was always cold and always dark. It was too far away in the solar system for the sunshine to reach it and their pale complexions reflected that. It was home to him and all he knew, but, Earth's rumored beauty had always been something he wanted to witness himself. He was always bitter that the people that inhabited this planet didn't fully appreciate it like his people would have, he still believes this. There was a time when his ancestors once lived here as well, that is, until the Queen banished them.

' _Neo Queen Serenity…the beautiful ruler of this beautiful planet…I wonder if you're here in this time…'_

"It's beautiful isn't it? Just like we always dreamed of." Saphir interrupted his thoughts.

Demande nervously replied, "Uh…yeah it is, I'm just happy that we're together again, brother." With the sun high in the sky now, he peered over the water and could now see his reflection. My god he looked so disheveled! He had never looked anything short of polished before so to see himself after all this time looking like this…no wonder Saphir couldn't contain his laughter. He cupped the water in his hands and preceded to clean his face until it was once again flawless. Saphir saw this and decided to do the same, they needed to look presentable for the Earthling that would provide them with the currency 'yen' he remembered the man referring it to.

As much as they wanted to stay, they knew that had to find a store that would be interested in purchasing their gems, so they could be one step closer to finding a new home for them. They left the pond area and eventually made their way into the city examining the different stores, confused as to which ones were meant for buying this sort of thing. Not knowing Earth customs, they were oblivious to the many police cars that were passing by them wailing their sirens. They noticed it of course, but had no idea what it meant and for all they knew, were everyday automobiles. They finally came across a building that looked promising:

 _Jewerly OSA·P_

When they walked inside the building they could see that the whole room contained glass displays full of different jewels in the forms of rings, necklaces, earrings and even tiaras. They knew that they had found the right place.

"Welcome to OSA·P, is there anything I can help you look for today?" a woman who was a bit older but attractive spoke to them.

Both of them were nervous but knew that they would have to interact with someone sooner or later. Saphir spoke first, "Actually ma'am we were wanting to sell some jewelry today?"

"Sure! I'd be happy to appraise what you have! I am the owner of this shop so I am able to give you cash for whatever you're selling today, let's have a look see" she said cheerfully

Both men approached her and reached into the bag they carried their old clothes in and started handing her all the diamonds and sapphires they had managed to pull out before those men approached them. She was amazed at how many stones they had to offer her and she then began cleaning them off one by one before looking into the first few with her jeweler loupe.

She looked at each one a while before looking back at them in astonishment. "These gems are amazing! I haven't seen such quality in a long time! I know I'm not supposed to ask but how did you come across such fine specimens?" Both gave blank and clueless expressions and did not knowing what to say. That is until Demande quickly thought up a lie, "We were going through our family's old things and uncovered old clothing that belonged to our great-grandfather that had these gems embroidered onto them. We managed to get most of them off but there are still a few that are still attached to it. The clothes were breaking down fast so we decided to put them all together in a bag so we wouldn't lose any of them." Hopefully she would buy that.

"Wow how fascinating! You're great-grandfather must have been an extremely wealthy man." She exclaimed.

"He was. Very wealthy." Saphir replied.

"May I see the clothes? I could probably get the rest of it off without damaging it too much." She asked.

"Sure of course." Saphir pulled both of their suit jackets out of the bag and handed it to the cheerful saleswoman. As a precaution he had already taken out and hid the pair of his black earrings in his new civilian clothing before going into the shop so that she wouldn't accidentally find them and Demande was still wearing his.

"Wow these are really old! I promise I'll be extremely careful." She went to work at removing first the sapphires from Saphir's jacket, then began working on Demande's. When she pulled the last jewel off, she began checking the pockets as she did with Saphir's but then she all of a sudden stopped.

"Oh my god…" she was dumbfounded.

From one of his pockets she pulled out two, large stones: one ruby and one emerald.

Demande was puzzled, he never kept anything like that. He had no idea how they got there. Were they in there before he died or did he come to acquire them in his new life? The sales lady examined each one closely before making them an offer.

"I'm sorry gentleman, I don't have enough money in the store at this time for everything but I would like very much to purchase either the Ruby or the Emerald to start. How does 6,000,000 yen a piece sound? If you return to the store in a couple of weeks after that, I should be able to purchase the other stone and then we can make arrangements on the rest of your gems. How about it?" she seemed anxious now.

Demande began to have an uneasy feeling for some reason. But before either could answer a voice interrupted.

"Mom I'm heading over to meet Usagi so that we can walk to school together, I'll see you when I get home!" A cute, young girl had come down the stairs. She was wearing a school uniform and had short, wavy hair that was an auburn color, the same colored hair that this sales woman had.

"Alright Naru, I'll see you when you get home, I love you!" the sales woman replied back cheerfully.

As she was leaving she caught a glimpse of the young, male customers her mom was talking to and was visibly blushing at how attractive these men were. If she didn't already have a boyfriend, she would definitely be interested.

After she left, the sales woman turned back to them, "I'm so sorry for the interruption. So what do you think, did that sound like a fair offer?"

Saphir started to reply, "Yes that sounds-" Demande put his hand on his shoulder and spoke for him, "I'm sorry ma'am we'll have to think it over regarding the Ruby and the Emerald, but the rest of the gems I would not mind selling to you at this time."

Visibly disappointed, the woman replied, "Oh okay well then I can offer you the 6,000,000 yen today for 4 of the diamonds and 4 of the sapphires. Would you like this in cash or would you prefer a check?"

"We'll take cash ma'am" Demande answered.

"Alright, that's quite a bit to be carrying around but I'll go get the money for you, I'll be right back." She took the gems and headed to another room in the store.

When she left the room, Saphir looked at Demande in confusion and asked him, "Why didn't you sell her those? She was going to give us that same amount for just one stone, I don't get it."

Demande took the ruby and emerald and held it in his palm, he covered them with his fingers and then closed his eyes for a moment. "Saphir you're going to think me mad, but for a moment, I felt a slight energy wave emitting from these particular stones."

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"What I mean is that we assumed that we were the only ones brought back from death and that may be true, in a living form. But I think that somehow these stones contain Rubeus and Esmeraude. I know it sounds crazy but I could feel them if not but for one second." Demande started to confuse himself now.

They looked at each other and then to the stones again until the sales woman came back.

"Alright I have the money ready for you," she began to count it for them, though they wouldn't have known the difference of the amount. "I would suggest putting this right into the bank, you don't want someone trying to steal this away from you. Now regarding the other items, like I said before only the owners of the store which include me and husband can buy jewelry and sometimes we are not here to operate the store and have our part-time workers running it while we're away. Is there a number I can get in touch with you to let you know when we'll have the rest of the money, Mr.-?"

"Uh, Satoshi," Saphir chimed in. "And no I'm afraid we are relocating right now."

"Well then I can just give you my card and you can contact this number in a couple of weeks. My name is Mayumi Osaka and like I said just call and ask for me and if we have the money ready then you can stop on by and we can complete the rest of the transaction. I do hope you end up changing your mind on the ruby and emerald though, they would draw in such a crowd having them in my window display." She winked at them.

"We'll let you know if we change our mind in the future Miss, thank you for your hospitality." Demanded said.

"I'll put your money in that bag you came in with and place the old clothes on top of them so it will look more inconspicuous." As she finished putting everything in the bag she looked at both of them one last time and said with a smile, "You know, you both have a very interesting look, is that your natural hair colors?"

"Ummm no." they both didn't really know how to answer that question.

"Oh okay I thought so, well you both pull them off very well, I could even see you made my daughter stop in her tracks." She giggled and then handed Saphir the bag. "Thank you for choosing OSA·P, I'll see you gentlemen soon, have a great day!"

As they left the store, both waved back at her and were just grateful that not all inhabitants of this planet were like the scumbags they had encountered in their first hours here. "I hope once we get settled into our new place, that we'll be able to talk further on this matter?" Saphir asked.

"Of course. By the way, great thinking on that name, I would have never been able to think of something" he replied before letting out a long sigh, "This has been the longest 24 hours of my life, I just want to rest." He and Saphir walked down the street away from the shop, off to find a new place they could start their new lives in.

At this moment a new customer began to walk into the jewelry store. He was very handsome and had short, black hair and eyes that were a deep, blue color.

"Welcome to OSA·P, how may I help you today sir?" Mrs. Osaka greeted.

"Hi ma'am, I'm about to go away overseas for a very long time and wanted to get my girlfriend something special before I left, something that expresses to her how much she means to me. But, I'm not very good at picking out these sort of things for her so I was hoping maybe you could help me find something? " the man enquired.

As the man approached closer to where she could get a better look at him she excitedly said "Oh I know you! You're dating my daughter's best friend Usagi! Mamoru right? I've known her for years so I know exactly the kind of thing she'd like."

She went over to a display case looking through all the different items that were inside until she pulled out a ring that had a pink, heart-shaped stone, with silver weavings around it, that had a few, tiny diamonds encrusted into them. "How about this? I think she would absolutely love it and Usagi is like a daughter to me, I'll give you a special discount."

He looked at the ring for a minute and then looked up at her and smiled, "It's perfect. I'll take it."


	3. Chapter 2-Fateful Encounters

_The Next Day:_

Demande and Saphir found their new, furnished apartment feeling hopeful and optimistic for the first time since they woke up on Nemesis. Their new home was located on one of the upper floors of the building and was pretty spacious compared to the other options that were available.

However, the landlord had informed them that it had been uninhabited for the past couple of years, due to a strange phenomenon that occurred inside while a brother and sister lived there. Attendants would complain frequently that they could hear strange noises coming from that area and every time he would ask them about it, they always had some kind of excuse. That is until one day, both the brother and sister disappeared without a trace after only a few months of living there and still to this day, have never been found. The landlord said that after they vanished and he went to open the door to their apartment so that the police could investigate, he was so stunned from all the damage that had taken place inside, as if a tank had driven through it, so major reparations had to be done that took over a year. Finally when the room was available for occupancy again, rumors of this strange occurrence had spread throughout the district and people thought that it may either be cursed or haunted. Since he felt guilty for such an incidence to occur in his building to the siblings who were only teenagers, he always let possible new tenants know of the situation if they seemed interested in occupying it, and afterwards it would always made them change their minds, so it remained empty. Since Demande and Saphir didn't believe in such nonsense, they decided on that room since, not only was it the largest that was available but, it also lacked many neighbors on that floor. So ecstatic that it was finally going to be filled, the landlord let it slip his mind to even ask for identification from either men, which was lucky for them. Under their new aliases, Tohru and Shinjiro Satoshi, they signed their lease, completed all payments using the cash they had just received and made their way into their new home.

When first settled in, the first thing they did was collapse onto their new beds and slept all through that day and into the night, not waking up until the following day. After awakening, they were finally able to bathe, which they were both long overdue for, although, they still lacked any new clothes to change into. However, they never got to finish their discussion that was had in the jewelry store, they needed to wait until they were both fully rejuvenated and could be able to think with a clear mind.

"My god this world is so primitive!" Demande groaned as he plopped onto their couch.

They both had been so accustomed to the 30th century that, losing all the conveniences it had was definitely going to be an adjustment. It didn't help that living as royalty in their time, made them out of touch with how the "common man" lived.

"Have you been able to feel anything since that time, Nii-san?" Saphir asked.

"No, the energy I felt from those stones were very faint and disappeared quickly, but, I know I felt them, Saphir." Demande replied.

"Hmm, the only people who had access to the power of the Jakakoshuishou was us, Rubeus, Esmeraude, the Spectre sisters, Black Lady and Wiseman. The sisters surrendered their power while Wiseman and Blacks Lady's whereabouts are still unknown to us at this time." Saphir pondered this for a while. "No matter how I try to wrap my brain around it, I just can't come up with anything. Why would they be reincarnated into stones and not us, when we all possessed the same power?"

"Maybe for now, instead of trying to figure out how this occurred, we should focus on resurrecting them." Demande said with a serious tone.

"Resurrect them?! How would we be able to do something like that?" Saphir was taken aback.

Demande held the stones in his palm again for a few moments without looking at Saphir, not wanting to see his reaction for what he was about to suggest, "The same way I was able to resurrect you, by using the power of the Jakokusuishou. From what we both witnessed, I still have my power as I'm sure you do as well and together, we can use this time to strengthen the black crystal as we did on Nemesis. Once it reaches it's full potential we can feed it's power onto those stones, transforming them back into their original forms."

Saphir was horrified at the idea, "Nii-san, please don't do this, nothing good can come from using that dark power, things are going to end up out of control like they did last time!" He noticed that Demande never took off his earrings once since they reunited.

"Nonsense, Wiseman is not here to manipulate me this time, it was his fault things got to that point back then but I won't allow that to happen again. Saphir, please understand, Rubeus and Esmeraude lost their lives because of me and I want to do everything in my power to give them a second chance just like we've been given, I owe them that." Saphir continued to listen to his plea without interruption, "I will not let the Jakokusuishou get to a point of destruction, I just want it to have enough power to use for the chance for all of us to be a family again. Please, brother, I can't do this without you…."

Saphir didn't like this idea but, he was never one to go against anything his brother did and it was true that, without Wiseman, they may be able to control it's power this time. Besides, being able to see the familiar faces of their comrades again amongst the strangers in this new world would help them not feel so alone.

"Please Nii-san, after they're revived, let's just try and live normal lives?" Saphir asked with a concerned expression on his face.

"Of course." Demande was certain of himself. "By the way, what does the date say on our copy of the lease?"

Saphir looked through the copy and scanned it with his eyes until he found it:

"August 25th, 1996"

 _2 Days later:_

Five girls sat around the table at one of their favorite hangouts enjoying a variety of fruit parfait's and milkshakes trading gossip back and forth. They were still in summer vacation mode even though they had started back to school that week, but that didn't stop them from spending as much time with each other as possible.

"Did you hear about that body they found the other day?" The taller of the girls, Makoto asked.

"Yes, I saw something about it on the news, but was so busy with my advanced physics dissertation on phase transitions in Quantum Ferromagnets, that I was unable to get the full details." The blue haired, Ami, replied back.

The blonde, with a red bow in her hair, Minako spoke next, "A few days ago, 3 men were found in an alleyway that's not too far from here. Two of the men were stripped down to their underwear passed out and the third one had been burned alive before being decapitated."

"Oh my goodness that's awful! Did they find who did it?" Ami asked.

A dark haired girl named, Rei, spoke this time, "Apparently, I heard on the radio, that when police questioned the two men that were still alive, they were both extremely drunk at the time. One was passed out before the event took place and didn't witness anything but the other one said that from what he can remember, that two men were behind it and appeared to be homeless. He said it was hard to see since it was the middle of the night, but, one was an old man that was tall in stature and had white, shoulder-length hair and the other one was a young guy who had dark hair but, he couldn't really see their faces. With the poor descriptions they gave, the police haven't been able to track down the culprits yet. "

"What were they doing out in the middle of the night?" Ami asked.

Makoto added in, "He said that they were just trying to help their friend home from the bar when he was getting so drunk that he was unable to stand and walk on his own. When they were helping him home is when those two men saw that they were in a vulnerable state and began to attack them out of nowhere, knocking the witness unconscious. After that, must have been when they stole their belongings and murdered their friend."

"That's terrible! You never hear about stuff like that happening in Azabu-Juuban!" Ami exclaimed.

The fifth one of the girls sat with the straw of the milkshake in her mouth disinterested and staring into nothing, not even listening to what the other girls were talking about. She had long, blond pigtails that were being held with two buns on top of her head and had a pair of blue eyes that appeared to have a sad look in them. The day before, she had to say goodbye to her boyfriend of 2 years, Mamoru, as he took off in a plane set for America so that he could study abroad. Before he left, he gave her a beautiful ring that had a heart-shaped pink stone and placed it on her finger before kissing her goodbye and told her that he loved her. She was reluctant to let him go, because he would be gone for at least a year, but, she knew that this was best for their future so she tried to see him off with a smile.

As a sailor senshi, she had just defeated her last enemy, Queen Nehelenia, who had kidnapped Mamoru, making her believe at that time that he would be lost to her forever. This caused a distortion in time to where she almost lost their daughter from the future who was helping in the present time as a newly appointed sailor senshi. After Nehelenia was defeated, Chibiusa, her daughter, returned back to her as did her lover, but was not able to spend much time reunited before having to part with her again as she needed to return to her own time in the future. Shortly after, Mamoru got an offer to study at a university in America. She was already reeling from the pain of having to say goodbye to Chibiusa, so having to separate from the love of her life for such a long time left her with a feeling of emptiness.

She looked down at her hand, onto the ring on her finger and let out a whisper, "Mamo-chan."

Taking notice of this, the girls stopped their discussion to comfort their friend.

"Usagi, it's going to be okay, I know it'll be a tough year without him but, we'll all be here for you." Rei placed her hand on her back.

"Has Mamoru-san phoned you yet?" Makoto asked.

Usagi finally out of her zombie like state replied, "No, but he probably isn't settled into his new apartment yet. I already went to work last night on writing my first letter to him and sent it out this morning, so he should be getting it soon."

Minako sighed, "That ring he got you is so pretty…I'm so envious." She took Usagi's hand to examine it closer. "Do you think it's for, you know…..?"

"What?" Usagi questioned.

Her house cat and mentor, Luna, who was also present chimed in, "Something like that…"

"What is it? Tell me, I want to know!" Usagi said anxiously.

"My god Usagi you're so dense! You ARE a girl aren't you?!" Rei exclaimed.

"A prettier one than you are Rei-chan." Usagi joked. She could feel herself beginning to cheer up. As long as she could keep in contact with Mamoru through letters and telephone calls, she should be able to make it through the year. Their destiny was already set in stone that they would be together forever and one year apart wouldn't change that.

Makoto pulled out a newspaper and read it for a moment before exclaiming to the group, "Look they featured the Three Lights in here!" The other girls started to share her excitement.

"Three Lights?" Luna asked. Usagi didn't know of them either.

Makoto was surprised, "You don't know who they are?! They're only the hottest pop idol group right now!"

"It's because of Seiya, he has a wild and dangerous feel to him." Said Minako

Then Rei commented, "No, he's a bit childish, I much prefer Yaten's unapproachable beauty."

Lastly Ami spoke, "You're wrong everyone, aren't you forgetting the cool and dreamy Taiki-san who overflows with grace and maturity?"

Everyone stopped and just stared at her surprised that the girl who was always so dedicated to studying would even pay attention to such a thing. Never the less, all the girls began swooning and gabbing about the new sensation. Usagi was still clueless as to who this new group was.

Makoto pointed at the newspaper, "Hey look, it says that they're going to be filming for their new drama series at Juuban Park on the 27th at 4:00 o'clock. We have to go!"

"Agreed!" said everyone including Usagi.

All of a sudden a realization came over the group as they looked up at the calendar that was placed on the wall showing today's date: August, 27th 1996

"EH?!" they all yelled in unison.

"What time is it now?!" Makoto asked.

Ami checked her watch, "5:15"

"EH?!" they all gathered their things up frantically and began to head out the door.

Usagi still working on picking up Luna and the rest of her belongings, saw that the girls were leaving without her. "You guys wait up, I want to see them too!"

Usagi followed the other girls to the park where a fateful encounter would come to occur, disturbing the era of peace the girls enjoyed for only a short while.

 _2 weeks later:_

Both Demande and Saphir had been working diligently on growing the power of the dark crystal since they established their new plan. They came to an agreement that during the day, Saphir would work on developing it's power, while Demande would take the night shift. The crystal, used from one of Saphir's earrings was their starting point and had already begun to grow in size. As it did, they started to regain control of the powers they both once possessed. They came to an agreement that they would need to keep a low profile and never use these powers in public, except for their disguises, so they wouldn't attract the attention of the sailor senshi. Trying once again to use the power of the Jakokusuishou for any reason is something they would never allow and would only try to get in their way.

Saphir could've kicked himself, he tried his best setting the time coordinates of the Malefic black crystal reactor, when they tried to escape Nemesis, to a year before they came into existence. Unfortunately, with the emergency of everything that was happening, it prevented him from being thorough with the control panel since it was difficult to see it clearly and the situation required it's coordinates to be set immediately. But, they ended up arriving in a time two years after their original mission took place, where the senshi were most likely even more powerful than when they last encountered them so they could not let them know of their existence before they could accomplish this.

Saphir sat in their new living area resting for a bit before he had to start the long, grueling day growing the black crystal. Working on this task required great concentration of the mind and since they were still regaining control of their powers, this exerted the body as well. They were progressing though, within the next few months is when they guessed that they would be ready for the ritual to take place. While one would work on growing the Jakokusuishou's power, the other would go out into the public to watch and observe how the people in this time go about living their everyday lives then, inform one another on the things they would learn that day. It's strange how people live in this time, everyone seems so oblivious to reality and are so carefree. The people on Nemesis never had room for free time, it was always living each day with a purpose and a plan working towards reclaiming the blue planet. That's how their world always was and that's why they hated how the citizens of Earth were so privileged and clueless while their people had to suffer. It's not their fault though, it was that damned Queen's doing. He hated her and everything she represented, she was the one who banished their ancestors to Nemesis in the past because she couldn't accept anyone who didn't agree with her way of living. What kind of monarch would just shut themselves away from the rest of the outside world when there were people who needed her? His brother had shared this sentiment as well until he finally gazed his eyes upon her for the first time, allowing himself to become bewitched. This caused him to become consumed by his obsession over her that changed him, and with that, gearing them off course from completing their original goal.

As if that wasn't enough, finding out that his brother had sacrificed himself in the end just to protect her, as Sailor Moon, was all the more reason to despise her. Saphir was appreciative of the help her and her senshi gave to him, in his last moments of life and how she spared Petz and her sisters, guiding them down the right path, but, it still didn't waver his opinion of her. This was actually the main reason he wanted to avoid coming to this time because he knew his brother wouldn't be able to keep himself from wanting to see her, and that was the last thing they needed right now. However, neither of them know her or the other senshi's identity, so there would be no way for him to locate where she is, hopefully they will never come into contact with one another and he can just focus at the plan at hand…he hoped.

 _Meanwhile:_

It was a beautiful morning, so Demande took advantage of this and spent his time outside roaming the streets of this new world that was still foreign to him trying to learn as much as could about how to act as a human being by observing the people's actions around him. Wanting to blend in as much as he could, in case a sailor senshi would recognize him or his brother while in their civilian form, they thought it best to alter their unique appearance since they seemed to stand out compared to everyone else. Under his new identity as Tohru Satoshi, his hair would appear to everyone else as light, blonde with his eyes now a jade-like, green color. Saphir only had to change his hair color to black which was the most common hair color around here it seemed, but Demande didn't think dark hair suited himself. They were engraining themselves into this new society they now live in one day at a time. With their powers getting more sophisticated, they were able to conjure up fake ID's, birth certificates, social security cards and other necessary items that each living person was required to have. They even hooked up a telephone at their new place, having their own line now. It was a challenge to learn how it worked since they were so accustomed to 30th century technology where they were used to using holograms for communication, or even using telekinesis with their powers but, they eventually got the hang of it. They each had their own set of new clothes now as well, disposing of the ones they stole. Demande wanted to dress as someone of the upper class so his wardrobe lacked much casual wear and consisted mainly of suits. They couldn't be too senseless with how they spent their money because after they receive the remaining amount they would make from selling the last of their valuable gems, they wouldn't have access to any more of it. On the outside, they would have all the appearances of being normal humans of the Earth, but they still lacked the appropriate social skills and understanding of how this world was for the most part, but, that will come with time. Thankfully the money they gained had given them a comfortable start and once they had become more knowledgeable of this time and place, then they could eventually work like the Spectre sisters had to and live out the rest of their lives as normal men.

He was starting to get hungry, so when he came across a restaurant with a patio area, he decided to grab some breakfast outside since the weather was nice. He had done this every day the past week since he didn't know how to cook for himself, but, was accustomed for his food to be served to him. Also, ordering and conversing with a server, were baby steps towards getting more comfortable in interacting with new people. After he was seated at a table, he placed his order, and watched the people walk through the streets, going about their daily lives. He then took notice of a couple walking hand in hand into the patio area and was seated by the hostess only a few tables from where he was sitting.

The young couple was so absorbed in each other that they didn't take notice of the man that was observing their every move. He couldn't hear the conversation they were having but he would see the man say something to the woman and she would just smile and giggle saying something back to him. She placed her arm on top of the table and the man then took her hand started caressing the top of it with his. The couple looked at each other, both with adoration in their eyes for a moment before the man leaned in to kiss her. When their lips parted, her cheeks began to blush and she mouthed something back to him. At that moment the server had arrived with Demande's food.

Seeing such a site had made him lose his appetite and just reminded him of how the one woman whom he ever loved will never look at him in that way. He began to think of that time when they had infiltrated 30th century Crystal Tokyo, it was the first time he ever laid eyes on her, the all-powerful goddess that ruled the Earth, Neo Queen Serenity. When their eyes met at that time, the beautiful blue of her eyes pierced his very soul and encaptivated every fiber of his being. However, she didn't reciprocate this feeling and only glared at him with the upmost contempt. After she was incased in crystal by her guardian senshi and separated from him, he made it his top priority to possess her and look into those mesmerizing, blue eyes once again. He then sent his generals out into to the past in a time before Crystal Tokyo had come into power, to locate the Queen's daughter who had taken the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, the crystal that Wiseman had him convinced was the key to fulfilling their mission. They had attracted the attention of the sailor senshi of the past who always foiled every calculated plan Rubeus and Esmeraude had, especially the one that was called Sailor Moon. As the senshi made their way into the future, he was finally able to see the girls that had gotten in the way of completing their mission time and time again and that is where he finally saw their leader who had defeated the numerous droids Saphir had created. She wore her hair in the same style as the Queen did, but what truly revealed her identity was when he saw those blue eyes filled with same determination as her future self; he knew he had found her. He had no idea that the Queen was a sailor senshi before ruling over Crystal Tokyo, but he knew that this was another chance at having her all to himself since he assumed she would be less powerful at this age. He tried numerous times to steal her love, even having to use the power of his third eye to manipulate her mind, but she always refused his affections and was always able to break the spell of his mind control because she had an unbreakable bond with another, her future husband, King Endymion. The only person he hated at this point as much as Wiseman was the king and his past self, he stood in the way of what he desired the most and if he was out of the picture, they could've been together. However, he was happy that at least in his dying moments her eyes drew out tears of sadness for him rather than hatred when she began to see that he wasn't the horrible monster that she first saw him as. It was that look of forgiveness, that gave him peace as he passed away in her arms. He wondered if they would ever cross paths again. He knew that Saphir didn't like her and that he hated hearing anything about her so he felt as if he had to bottle his emotions inside of him.

He looked away from his food that had hardly been touched and back to the loving couple who continued to display their affections for each other. He began to daydream that in place of the people that were sitting not far from him, was actually him and Serenity casually out eating at their favorite restaurant, taking her hand into his as she affectionately looked upon him with those beautiful eyes of hers in the same way as this woman did with her lover.

"Excuse me sir, was the food not to your liking?" the waitress that served him came up and saw that his plate was still completely full of food.

"Um, no it was fine I just feel a bit under the weather all of a sudden, I'll take my check now." His cheeks were starting to turn a shade of pink, embarrassed being caught with such intimate thoughts in his head.

"Alright sir, I'll go get it right now with a to-go box for your food in case you get your appetite back later." The cheerful waitress walked back inside the restaurant and then returned with his bill and food container.

She packed his food up for him, before he paid and left. He was in such a bad mood now, that he didn't feel like venturing out anymore and decided to head back home and give Saphir a hand with things.

He started to walk down the sidewalk with his food container in one hand and the change from his bill still in his other hand. The streets were getting more crowded with the people heading to work so he tried putting the money in his pocket but, was struggling to stuff everything inside when some of the coins began to fall to the ground.

He bent down to pick them up when someone running, not paying attention bumped the side of him almost making him fall to the ground before he was able to maintain his balance.

"Hey! Watch where you're going you idiot!" he yelled out. His mood worsened now but when he looked up at who bumped him, time felt like it slowed for a moment.

A young girl that had two long, golden pigtails that were being held together with two buns placed on her head continued to fly by him not slowing her step even after she knew she had bumped into someone. She was wearing a school uniform that looked exactly like the one Mrs. Osaka's daughter had on when they were at the jewelry store.

Realizing what she did, the girl turned her head slightly back at him, not seeing who it was that she hit but acknowledging him while waving her arm and yelled, "Sorry sir, I'm running late!" she continued running down the sidewalk widening the distance between them.

He stood back up, not taking his eyes off of her. Could that girl have been….?

"Serenity" he gasped.

Without a second thought, he dropped the container of food that was in his hand and immediately took off after her leaving the change he had intended to pick up behind.


	4. Chapter 3-Assimilation

"Serenity" he gasped.

He took off after her without a second thought. She had already gained a head start on him but, he was able to catch every corner she turned and every street she ran down. Thankfully, she was so preoccupied with making it on time to school and was so far ahead of him that she had no idea that she was being followed.

She turned the last corner as he continued to follow her but he stopped when he saw that she entered a large, building:

 _Juuban Municipal High School_

As she disappeared through the entryway a loud bell began to sound off:

 _Ding Dong, Ding Dong_

He stood outside the gate and stared up at the building questioning if he should go inside or not.

' _I know I'm not supposed to have contact with any of the sailor senshi, but, I just want to see her face at least one more time.'_ he thought.

He decided to go ahead and take a chance. Besides, with his disguise, there is no way she'd be able to know of his identity. For all she knew, Prince Demande of Nemesis, has been dead for the past couple of years now so he should be fine as long as he never lets Saphir know of this.

He took a deep breath and walked into the building. He didn't see anyone inside and as he roamed the halls, there seemed to be multiple rooms and stairs leading to different levels of the school; it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He had already been informed on the concept of public schooling, where children go through 12 grades with each one harder than the last until they finally either graduate and find a job, or continue their education in college. He had private tutors growing up on Nemesis and never got the chance to even be around many other children his age, except for his brother and then eventually, Esmeraude and Rubeus. He was always lonely as a child so, he would've liked going to go to a place, such as this, where he could've been able to make real friends instead of everyone groveling over him all the time just because he was their prince.

He walked through one of the halls and saw that there were test scores posted sequentially from the lowest grade to the highest on the wall. The top score posted was from a girl named, Ami Mizuno. He touched the paper it was posted on trailing the name with his fingers. The Queen was supposed to have been well versed in all subjects which was one of the reasons she was such a brilliant leader.

' _Ami Mizuno…are you her?'_ he wondered.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" A man spotted him.

Demande tried to think of an excuse, "Uh, I was wanting to inquire on if this school was hiring at all right now? I was looking for the office but I'm afraid I took a wrong turn and ended up where the classrooms are."

"We have no openings as of right now sir, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He was stern about it but he seemed to buy his story.

"Alright, thank you, I'll let myself out." Demande walked out of sight from the man quickly and hoped he wouldn't follow him.

He would have to try and spot her when she left the building for the day, whenever that was. He decided to leave and try again at a later time but, as he was walking down a hallway that led towards the exit, a room caught his attention. It was rather large and contained shelves upon shelves of books. Saphir had informed him that in this time, libraries kept their literature printed onto pages made out of paper that were kept together individually. Saphir was excited that places such as these existed because in the time they are from, books made of paper hadn't been around for centuries due to the advancement of technology, where literature was stored into a main database that could be accessed through holograms. Few copies of paper books had still existed of course, but only on Earth in the Queen's library that was in the Crystal Palace. He knew that he was supposed to leave but, he decided to go inside and take a look around anyway.

As he entered he could hear someone in between a set of bookcases, but ignored it and started looking through some books that were sprawled out on a cart next to one of the tables. He had to admit, that some of the covers were beautifully illustrated and looked really interesting.

"Excuse me young man, is there something I can help you find?" An elderly woman started walking up to him, "Oh wait, you're not a student are you?"

"Um, no. Are you a teacher here?" he asked.

"No, I'm the librarian, Mrs. Tatsumi. If you aren't a student then what are you doing in the building?" She asked with a sudden suspicion.

Again he had to think of a quick excuse, "I'm getting hired on as a teacher here and was just looking around the place and took notice of your library, it's really fascinating."

"Oh, it's alright I suppose, I've been working here for over 30 years now, so I'm so used it. I could've retired by now but I just love my job and the kiddos so much that I can't stay away, even though my husband would like me to. So what subject will you be teaching-"

Demande cut her off, "Wow, 30 years that's a long time. You know I've always been curious about what exactly a librarian does?" He knew it was a dumb question but he really didn't know.

"What do you mean? Students here check out the books, return them and I put them up, it's really as simple as that. Also if they need to know where a particular book is, I help them find it." she looked as though she'd never been asked that before.

It sounded like a very easy job, a job that he could do and it could be a way to get close to… her. He began to get an idea and looked to each corner of the room to check for cameras then back to her, "Of course, sounds simple enough. You know when I first came in, I took notice of a book on the shelf over there that I would like to check out, I'm allowed to as an employee correct?"

"Yes of course, show me where it is." They began to walk toward the area he pointed at.

"Are you by any chance foreign? Those green eyes of yours are quite lovely. You actually remind me a bit my grandson." She commented.

"Possibly. I was adopted." He replied. He and Saphir had been getting asked that question a lot from people in the area.

They reached their destination that had a large bookcase covering either side of them.

"Oh yeah, you never told me what subject you'd be teaching, Mr.-?" she looked up at him.

He didn't say anything but just stared back intensely and then smirked at her. He then abruptly clasped both his hands on her arms giving her a fright.

"What are you doing?!" she noticed his demeanor had completely changed.

All of a sudden, she looked up at his face and saw that something on his forehead started to blink and then open up, almost as if it was another eye. She couldn't look away from it, her pupils began to disappear from her eyes and then eventually felt all self-control begin to slip away.

"You know, Mrs. Tatsumi, 30 years here really is a long time and I feel as though you're starting to get tired, don't you think? Maybe it's time you should retire." Demande had her completely under his control.

"Yes...I'm getting so… tired. I think I should retire and spend time with my husband." She said robotically.

"Good, very good. But not today. Tomorrow morning, you will let your boss know that you want to quit, is that understood?" Controlling a mere human would be no trouble.

"Yes, Prince Demande-sama."

He then, took his hands off of her, "I'll be seeing you tomorrow for training then." He started to walk away before turning his head back to her one more time, "Oh and I guess I won't be needing that book after all." He left her in a stunned state and walked out of the library then, out of the school building.

His bad mood seemed to have finally lifted and it would only be a matter of time before they would meet again. As her enemy, the prince of Nemesis, she may have rejected him, but, with a new approach, he may be able to succeed in getting what he wanted this time. Saphir could never know that he used his powers and he could never know that he is going to be around the one person who they're supposed to avoid at all cost.

By the time he arrived home, it was already late in the afternoon so Saphir was done working on growing the Malefic Black Crystal for the day. He was sprawled out on their couch looking absolutely tired and exhausted. Since this was for his brother, Saphir always gave 110% for anything he wanted, and due to him not wearing the black crystal earrings, it put more of a strain on his body than it did Demande whose body became more infiltrated with the dark power each day making it easier for him to handle.

"Welcome home, Nii-san. How was today?" he asked cracking a smile.

"It was interesting…I sort of got a job." He mumbled out.

Saphir sat up quickly, "What?! A job? Doing what?"

"Well, you've been telling me about these libraries you go to so I decided to stop by one today to read some books. The librarian there, an older woman, made small talk with me since she said I reminded her of her grandson and told me how she had been thinking of retiring but, had no one in line to replace her. Since it seemed like a job I could do with little experience, I let her know that I've been looking for work and next thing you know, she said that she could start me tomorrow." He hoped that he'd believe it.

"I don't believe it…" He said

' _Shit'_

"My brother has an Earth job already, that's incredible Nii-san I'm so proud of you!" Saphir looked as if all excursion had left him.

"I swear you act like I'm completely helpless sometimes when I'm supposed to be your older brother." He smiled in amusement trying to act as confident in his lie as possible.

"I just can't believe how quickly we're assimilating into this new world, I wonder if it was this easy for Petz..." He sat up and changed the subject quickly since it pained him to think of her. "By the way I called Mrs. Osaka and she said that she had the rest of our funds so after I shower, I'm going up there and thought that when I come back with our money, we could go out and celebrate tonight, you deserve a break."

"Yeah…that sounds great." Demande tried to seem excited.

As Saphir went into the bathroom, Demande sat on the couch with his hands on his face then traveled them through his hair, dropping his disguise for a while changing his hair back to white and his eyes to purple. He felt extremely guilty for lying to his brother and knew that he was reckless in what he did and that he could've ruined everything but, for some reason he just couldn't control his impulses. When it came Serenity, he would walk into the depths of Hell if it meant that there was a chance of having her.

His brother emerged from the bathroom looking completely rejuvenated from the day's arduous session, "I'm heading out now." He started to put his hand on the door knob before he stopped and turned back to him, "By the way Nii-san, I've been holding this thought back for a while now, but, I've noticed that you don't really ever take off your earrings. I mean I know that it's necessary to wear them sometimes but, please don't overdo it okay?"

"Sure. I'll see you when you get home." He replied.

After Saphir left, Demande took his earrings off and looked at them in his hands wondering,

' _Are these the reason that my emotions have been getting the better of me?'_

Oh well, it didn't matter, from tomorrow on he would have to take them off while he was at the school anyway or Serenity and her guardian senshi would surely be able to discover his identity. He put his earrings on the coffee table and leaned back onto his couch and closed his eyes picturing her face in this thoughts.

' _Soon, my dear Serenity, soon'_

* * *

 _5 days later:_

Usagi was sitting in her English class not listening to anything her instructor was saying. She had a million things on her mind currently and was worried about them too much to be able to pay attention to what the teacher was lecturing about.

The first thing was that her boyfriend had been in America for 3 weeks now, and had yet to call her or reply to any of the letters she had sent him. She had written to him every night since he left and has called the number he gave her over a dozen times, leaving voicemails every time and still, she got no response. She had started questioning on if he really meant it when he told her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life together with her, she didn't know what else to think and the more she did, the more she became depressed about it. Having to keep this from her friends and pretend like everything was okay was what she thought was best for the situation since she didn't want to worry them. But she couldn't help but have it in the back of her mind constantly that something terribly wrong was going on that was out of her control.

Secondly, multiple new sailor senshi have appeared. Sailor Iron Mouse who has shown herself to be their new enemy has been transforming high profile celebrities into Phages when they don't possess a "true star seed". What makes a "true star seed" is unknown at this time to any of them but she has had to heal them using her "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss" technique, transforming them back into their human form every time. Also, three sailor senshi who are working in a group called, the Sailor Starlights have also been showing up every time a Phage appeared, however, she didn't think that they were enemies but weren't exactly their allies either. It seemed they had a goal of their own they were trying to accomplish and weren't interested in teaming up with her or her guardians. When they first met Haruka and Michiru, it was a similar situation before they came to all work together in the end but, she had never heard of a sailor senshi hurting innocent people before and that troubled her. They have had many enemies in the past but, this is the first time that they have had to fight a member of their own kind.

While Usagi was deep inside her thoughts, her teacher presented an assignment to the classroom,

"Class, we are weeks into our Fall semester and that means that I will now go over with you what you are expected to turn in for your end of the semester project. I want you to pick a book written by an English or an American author and write an extensive 5 page book report with the last page based on your thoughts of the book. For example, would you have written the ending differently, take out or add in additional characters, or keep it the exact same, and if you do, I want reasons on why you would. It seems like a big work load so that's why I am allowing a partner of your choosing to help share the burden with you. It's due 2 months from now so I would suggest that you all immediately get to work on it and not wait until the last minute since it's worth a large percentage of your final grade. I will allow the next 5 minutes for you to go ahead and pick your partner so I can go ahead and mark it down before we move on."

Someone slammed his hand on Usagi's shoulder, "I call Odango as my partner!"

It startled her, "S-Seiya stop calling me Odango, and what do you mean partner?!"

"You mean didn't hear what our teacher just said? Don't worry I'll fill you in later." He whispered to her.

"Alright Seiya Kou is going to be partners with Usagi Tsukino. Got it." the teacher began to mark down.

"Wait teacher I didn't agree to this!" Usagi tried to tell him but it seemed that he wasn't listening and moved on to other students.

"Why don't you be partners with Yaten or Taiki-san?" she turned to Seiya and asked.

"They already chose each other as partners and I still don't know many people here. Why? Afraid we'll get a little too close for comfort?" he winked at her.

"Hmph yeah right! I told you already that I have an amazing boyfriend that is waiting for me overseas who is way cooler than you are." She turned her head.

"Oi, you don't have to be mean about it." Seiya slumped back in his desk.

The third thing that was on her mind; the school has completely turned itself upside down over the new students who transferred into their school a couple of weeks ago, the Three Lights. When they went to the park at that time, Usagi had met Seiya by chance, not knowing that he was part of the famous trio and they even bumped into each other another time after that as well. It was exciting and she liked getting to know Seiya, Yaten and Taiki and was even jumping on the bandwagon becoming a new fan of theirs. Seiya had gotten particularly close with her since she was technically the first student at that school that he knew before transferring here but, this made her a bit uncomfortable at times because she could see some of the negativity that was being projected onto her from some of his die-hard fans. But, she already had a man that she was deeply in love with, so they had nothing to worry about.

' _Ding Dong, Ding Dong'_

The bell rang, sounding off the end of school for the day so, everyone began gathering their things and started leaving the classroom. Usagi sluggishly did as well.

"Miss Tsukino, may I see you for a moment before you head out?" Her teacher called to her.

She went up to the front of the classroom to him and she noticed that he had a serious look on his face.

"I noticed that you have been lackluster in my class here lately, to say the least, and your grades are starting to reflect that. This project is the last chance for you to make a huge improvement to bring your grade up for the semester so if I were you, I would suggest that you head to the library right now and at least find the novel you will be doing your report on. If you can get it read within the next 2 to 3 weeks, then that should give you a good amount of time to write a decent report." He informed her.

"I'm sorry Sensei, I haven't been sleeping very well lately but, I'll start working on finding a book right away." She bowed and then left.

She wasn't lying about not sleeping well and that was the final thing that had been plaguing her mind. Every night for the past week, she has been having horrible nightmares and she didn't know why. It was always the same thing from that time 2 years ago when they traveled to Crystal Tokyo when she was kidnapped by their enemy at the time, the leader of the Black Moon Clan, Prince Demande. The look in his eyes that he gave her that time, frightened her and if it hadn't been for Mamoru rescuing her, she didn't know if she would have ever been able to escape. But every night the dream seemed more and more realistic and the part where Mamoru rescued her would either be delayed or wouldn't happen at all which she took as a sign that something was wrong. However, he seemed to have not been such a bad person in the end which he proved by sacrificing his life in order to save her from Wiseman's beam of power that he shot at her. So, she didn't understand why she kept going back to that time inside her dreams when he frightened her so much. She doesn't have Mamoru here to comfort her when she wakes up so she truly feels like she did at that time when she woke up in that bedroom Prince Demande placed her in back then; vulnerable and alone. Maybe going to the library would help take her mind off things.

She walked out of the classroom and looked around to find that everyone seemed to be waiting on her including her friends Makoto, Ami and Minako along with Seiya while the other members of the Three Lights, Yaten and Taiki seemed to be waiting on him.

"Is every alright Usagi-chan?" Ami asked.

"Yeah, Sensei was just letting me know that I'm not doing so well right now so I have to start working on my project right away. I was thinking of going down to the library, did any of you want to come with me?" Usagi asked.

"Actually we have club activities that are about to start so we won't be able to but, we just wanted to check and make sure everything was alright. We've got to get going though, we'll see you tomorrow!" Makoto and the rest of her friends waved goodbye and went off to their activities.

Usagi then turned to Seiya, "Well, I guess we can go ahead and start since we're partners for this thing."

"Actually, that's what I was waiting out here for, is so I could let you know that me, Yaten, and Taiki are going to be starting rehearsals for our Three Lights musical today. I will be having to spend the next 2 weeks after school on it so, whatever book you decide on, I'll just read on my own time and then we can start the project together after we're done having to go to the rehearsals." Seiya could see Usagi looked irritated at this.

"What the hell Seiya, you picked me as your partner and then can't even work on the project with me?! Fine! I'll go by myself then!" she stormed off not even looking at his reaction.

She normally wouldn't get mad about this but, with everything going on with her boyfriend not talking to her, her senshi duties, lack of sleep and on top of that, almost failing English, she just needed a break from everything right now.

As she approached the library, a couple of girls were exiting with blushed cheeks giggling amongst themselves, "Wow how lucky are we to get such a good looking librarian?" then the other one replied, "I know, I'm definitely going to start reading more often, that's for sure."

They continued past Usagi but she didn't even pay attention to what they were saying, she was in such a horrible mood because of Seiya right now. She tried to calm her anger as she walked inside the library.

* * *

 _Meanwhile:_

Demande was now an official employee at the high school as his plan had worked exactly how he had intended it to. After Mrs. Tatsumi presented her resignation as the school's librarian, Demande came in at the right time and scooped up the position from her. He had her train him on all the formalities that he needed to know about this job such as learning about the dewey decimal system and how to check out books to the students. With her still under his control, he felt free to ask all the 'stupid' questions he needed to without any repercussions of drawing suspicion.

On his first day, he was almost late trying to get through an enormous crowd of the students gathered around the school's entrance since they wouldn't budge for anything. Whenever he pushed himself through the students, he noticed that it was mostly high school girls, which he found strange but, since none of them was the one particular girl he wanted to see, he didn't really think too much on it. He was nervous as the hours went by, wondering on when it was she was fated to step inside the room or if they would bump into each other in the halls, but, going through the scenario over and over in his head, he came to the conclusion that he would try to act as nonchalant about their meeting as possible in order to conceal his identity. He would use this as a chance to start over with a clean slate and try a more subtle approach than how he did the first time they met and hopefully, he'd be able to build her trust with him first before charming his way into her heart. She wasn't like the typical human that he could just use his third eye to control with and no matter how much of his powers he would gain back, she would always be able to overcome him, so he would try to conquer her love as a human rather than using his powers this time.

Days passed and she never entered the library once and at first he would be alert to every student that would walk in but, as each day passed, he paid less attention, losing faith that he would run into her that easily. So, he would just pass the time reading since there wasn't really much to this job and not many students ever came in. He enjoyed reading, as he never got the time to do much of it on Nemesis since he had focused all of his energy on conquering the Earth and usually all the literature they had was originated on Nemesis, so everything he read here was new to him. Now he understood why Saphir would spend hours at a time in these places since they came here because some of these stories would absolutely draw him in and if something interested him enough, he would end up losing himself for hours. Every once in a while, when books would pile up on his desk he would have to go put them back on the shelves. If no students were present in the library, he was able to use his powers to put the books away quicker so that he could go back to what he was reading, but, if someone was in the room, he was able to get it done quickly anyway since his abnormal strength allowed him to carry large amounts of books at a time.

Two girls were currently checking out books in the library, so this was one of those times. They were talking amongst themselves sitting at one of the tables, shooting glances at him and then, giggling back to each other while he would make trips back and forth putting books away. He was hoping they would leave so he could get back to what he was currently reading because it was starting to get to a really good part. Thankfully, as if they could read his mind, they both got up and started to walk out still giggling amongst themselves, unfortunately he could hear someone else enter the library. When he finished placing some of the books in one bookcase, he picked up the remaining books from the ground that piled so high surpassing his height that it blocked his vision.

As he started to walk, he ran into someone causing himself and all the books he was carrying to fall down. He was startled by this but, when he came to his senses he looked at all the books that were now sprawled out on the ground, then looked to the person who ran into him before paralysis overtook his body as he saw the woman who he had been anxiously waiting to meet.

The collision had caused her to fall back onto the ground as well, and she was so busy rubbing on her sore bottom that she didn't even look up to see who she had ran into.

With her eyes closed in pain still, she said, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going! Here let me help you pick these up."

As she reached out and picked up one of the books, she finally looked up at him with those eyes he had been longing to see but, after a moment of studying his face, they had visibly widened as she choked out,

"Pr-Prince Demande?"


	5. Chapter 4-The New Librarian

He couldn't believe it, he was already caught. His guise should've prevented her from recognizing him but, maybe he underestimated her intuitive ability. What was he to do now?

Nothing, he decided. He just needed to commit to his new identity at all costs, there was no way she'd be able to prove who he really was.

"What did you call me?"

As he nervously responded trying to play innocent, she immediately threw the book she was holding towards his direction making contact with his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. She clumsily made her way to her feet and then ran out of the library within seconds. When he managed to catch his breath and lifted his head up, he saw that she already disappeared from the library.

Everything happened so quickly that he hardly had time to grasp the situation. That reaction definitely wasn't what he had anticipated. He did nothing to provoke her but, clearly, she recognized him and felt threatened by his presence…even after that moment they shared those years ago. What had changed since then? This was not good, if her and her companions find out that the power of the dark crystal was back on their planet, they will see this as an attack and destroy all the progress they have made. Saphir was right, trying to get close to her was a mistake because now their plan to bring back their comrades may be ruined all because of him. His selfishness in going against his brother's one request, only caused him to feel the hurt of her rejection towards him once again. He thought of that fantasy he had of the couple sitting at the restaurant that he pictured themselves in and saw it all began to shatter away along with the hopefulness he was finally starting to feel in this new life of his.

The defeated man went to pick up the mess that was on the floor before more students walked in and decided that until the very end, he must keep up this façade no matter what. There was still a chance that things could turn around.

* * *

Usagi ran out of the school building as fast as she could, running through multiple blocks before she stopped to catch her breath. Should she contact the rest of the senshi? They were all in their club activities so she didn't think they would even be able to use their communicators right now. She decided that, for now, all she could do was just go home until she's able to inform them on what she just saw.

When she entered her house, she saw that no one seemed to be home at the moment, even Luna. She went up to her room, threw her things on the ground and began pacing nervously back and forth trying to think about what just happened, she still couldn't believe it.

' _I don't get it. He died at that time, I saw him. How could he be back in the past? I mean, that was him wasn't it?'_

She had a million questions running through her head and it was starting to give her an enormous headache. As she rubbed her head frantically in confusion she turned to the picture of her, Mamoru and Chibiusa that was sitting on her shelf. She picked it up and looked at it wondering if she should tell her boyfriend about this, but then again, she hasn't been able to get ahold of him since he left. Without him here, what would happen to her? But of course, she still wasn't completely sure on if that was actually Prince Demande she saw or if she simply mistook that man for him. Were those nightmares she's been having making her see things that weren't really there?

Lying on her bed, she thought about that time 2 years ago when Wiseman tried to kill her, she remembered that Prince Demande saved her and took the full force of that powerful blast which caused him to bleed uncontrollably. When she held him in her arms and cried tears of sympathy for him, she felt the final breath he took, and saw all trace of life leave him as he closed his eyes for the last time, or so she thought. Things had gotten so hectic after his death that she tried to think as hard as she could on if he could've possibly survived or not. It all happened inside the enormous shard of the Malefic Black Crystal that was implanted into the Earth and after she defeated Wiseman, it completely disappeared along with any evidence on if Demande's corpse was still lying inside of it or not.

It had been a long time since she thought about that last moment with him and as she replayed it over and over in her mind, she began to feel guilty about how she reacted if that was indeed him. He sacrificed himself back then for her and this is how she treats him? Those dreams, Mamoru, her responsibilities to save this planet, they were all taking a toll on her, she could feel it. Her head began to become cloudy and she started to feel the temples of her head pulsate. She decided that after she took a long nap, she would contact the other senshi about it and then tomorrow at the school they could investigate this new librarian to see if it was truly him or not.

* * *

 _The Next Day:_

The students were released for their lunch hour so Usagi and her fellow senshi, decided that this would be the perfect time to catch a glimpse of this librarian to see if her mind really was playing tricks on her or not. Each of the four girls poked their head through the doorway of the library, hoping he was too busy with other things to notice.

There seemed to be a quite a few students checking out books at the front desk, most likely for their English assignment. After each one acquired their novel, they exited out of the library taking notice of the four heads stacked on top of each other and looked at them as if they were insane. But, with the line thinning out, they were finally able to get a good look at the man behind the front counter. The look on his face was inexpressive, not smiling or hardly acknowledging any of the students that were coming and going, even to the females who were clearly trying to gain his attention. His eyes seemed to have a sadness to them.

"Wow you're right that really does look like Prince Demande." Minako whispered.

"Yes he does, but, didn't he have white hair? This man's blonde." Ami spoke.

"Yeah it's strange, when I saw him yesterday for those few moments, I could've sworn that his hair was white but, this guy's hair and eye color are different now that I'm looking at him." Usagi replied. They took their heads out from the entry before he would notice them spying on him.

"So you guys don't think it's him right?" Usagi asked the rest of her friends.

"He looks like him but, you said he died back then right? What would he be doing here in our high school? What do you think Mako-chan?" Minako asked her, she had been silent this whole time.

Every looked to her and saw that her cheeks were extremely red and her eyes appeared glassy.

"Mako-chan?" Minako asked again.

"I don't believe it…he looks just like the older brother of the sempai that broke my heart."

"So we're back to that again, huh?" Ami said rubbing her temples before looking back at Usagi. "Listen, I don't think that it's him, people resemble other people all the time, it could just be a coincidence. However, take be careful around him and if he tries anything funny with you, contact us immediately and we'll be here to defend you."

"Thank you all, I guess I just over reacted." Now Usagi thought back to how she threw that book at him and felt terrible about it. She should apologize to him when school lets out, after all, she still had a book that she needed to pick for her and Seiya's assignment.

"We should go outside to eat our food before the hour is over." Minako suggested. "Rei should be on lunch break as well, so we can contact her and let her know that everything's okay."

"Good idea, I'm starving!" Usagi said excitedly. The girls then made their way to eat their homemade lunches with the remaining time they had.

* * *

The bell rang ending the school day, so Usagi gathered up her things quickly so that she could get to the library and find her book since she had the weekend to start reading it. As she walked outside her classroom, she felt someone grab her arm. When she looked behind her, it was Seiya.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" he seemed really serious.

"Yeah, but don't make it too long since I have to go downstairs to pick a book for _our_ assignment." She was still slightly mad at him.

"I know, that's what I was wanting to tell you was that I'm really sorry about that. I could tell from the silent treatment you've been giving me all day that you're still mad at me and I don't like it. I know I should've told you about the rehearsals before having you be my partner but, you're the only one I feel comfortable being around besides Yaten and Taiki at this school so I took it upon myself to insist that I work with you so I wouldn't get stuck with someone else. Please forgive me."

She didn't expect him to apologize like this, maybe she doesn't have the right to be this mad at him. It's not like they had to work on anything together until they started writing their report so maybe the stress of everything that was going on in her life right now was causing her to overreact.

"Alright Seiya I forgive you, I'm sorry for how I treated you, I just feel a lot of pressure with….school right now. Whenever I pick our book, I'll let you know on Monday what it is, so that you can check out your own copy." Usagi hated admitting when she was wrong but she could see that he was genuine about his apology.

"I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore and I understand about being under pressure. As a member of the Three Lights, it's important that I excel in everything I do for this group, so that we can project a certain message that needs to reach our audience, if that makes sense, so these rehearsals are very important to me." He looked at the clock. "Speaking of which, I need to head over to right now." He went to go collect Yaten and Taiki who were patiently waiting on him.

' _I guess he isn't such a selfish person after all.'_ She thought.

"Bye, see you on Monday, Odango!" he waved back to her.

' _I take it back he's a selfish idiot!'_

After watching the three boys walk away she happened to looked over to her right to see a group of girls that were upperclassmen at her school glaring at her intensely. One muttered something to the rest before they all nodded in agreement over whatever it was she said. She knew that they were talking about her and could feel the tension from them, so she took this as her que to head downstairs now.

* * *

Demande could hear the final bell for the day that dismissed the students from school, it was Saturday so his first week of working here was officially over. She hadn't come in today and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Her and her senshi would have surely confronted him by now if they truly believed Prince Demande was back on Earth but on the other hand, she may have been too frightened to see him again. Either way, it felt like such a long day that he couldn't wait until he was finally able to go home and get a day off. He felt like giving up and quitting but, he knew that he needed to save and make as much money as possible because who knows how long it would be until him and his brother could have another opportunity to make more. The library was completely empty since it was the weekend, so, he took out a book to read to pass the remaining time he had left in his shift.

After a few minutes of reading, he happened to look up and was surprised to see that Serenity's past self was standing right in front of his desk looking at him. He was shocked and didn't know what to say but, from the looks of her, it seemed that she didn't either, so, he decided to speak first.

"Come to throw more books at me?"

"Umm…I'm really sorry for the way I acted, I was expecting Mrs. Tatsumi to be working here but then when I saw you, I mistook you for someone else. I feel terrible bumping into you causing that mess and then leaving it for you to clean up and I'm especially sorry for throwing that book at you like that." She said sheepishly.

He continued to stare at her for a minute but then smiled at her. He was just happy that she wasn't frightened of him like he thought and maybe his plan can officially begin now.

"I didn't take it personally, I was just surprised when a girl whom I've never met before, decides to throw books at me and then runs away, that's definitely a first for me." He chuckled lightly when he saw that Usagi was clearly embarrassed. "Well now that we've fixed this misunderstanding, was there anything I can help you with Miss-?"

"Usagi Tsukino" she replied to him. "And yes, I actually have a report I need to do over a book written by an English or an American author. But, I'm not too familiar with any English speaking authors and thought that you may be able to help me find something?"

"Sure, I've been having students come in all day for that assignment, I'd be glad to help you, Miss Tsukino." He anxiously put his book away and went to her side. To be this close in proximity to her after all this time was like a dream.

They started walking towards one of the bookshelves and she then asked, "So, what's your name?"

"It's Tohru Satoshi. Mrs. Tatsumi-san seemed to have a sudden epiphany that she didn't need to work here anymore so I took over her position this past week. Things have been rather dull around here though, that is, until you came in of course." He chuckled again.

Her cheeks began to turn bright red, she realized how idiotic she must have seemed to him.

"So what kind of book were you interested in, Miss Tsukino?" he asked her.

"Well, I'm not sure exactly, but I was thinking maybe a story that had some romance in it?" she replied.

He started looking through one of the shelves before he picked one out to suggest for her, "What about this? William Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet."_

Her eyes lit up at him, "Yes, I've always wanted to know the story of Romeo and Juliet. My middle school did a play about this once but, I wasn't able to attend it. I just hope I'll be able to understand the dialogue in it, my English isn't very good."

"Don't worry everything is translated to Japanese so you shouldn't have any trouble understanding the story, besides if you need anything, you can always ask me for help. Come by here sometime if you'd like, it gets boring working here with no one to talk to and you seem like you would be good company but, you don't have to of course." He said.

"Oh, no my partner is actually not able to work on this with me for a while so I may take up your offer and come down here after school every day so I can get it read in time. Thank you for not being mad at me for what I did to you yesterday, all the other teachers at this school look down on me for my behavior, so for you to actually accept my apology and offer to help me is really nice of you." She told him.

"I just can't believe that, you seem like a sweet girl and you apologized so we'll just pretend like it never happened." They began to both be silent for a few moments.

"You have a very interesting hairstyle, what made you wear it like this?" he took a piece of her hair and ran it through her fingers.

"I'm not sure, since I was a little girl, I've just always worn it this way. But, I get teased for it a lot since it looks funny to some people." She said.

"Not at all, I think it suits you very much." He continued to let the strands flow through his fingers.

"Thanks." She said all of a sudden feeling shy.

They both smiled at each other as he stared deeply into her eyes, she was even more beautiful than the last time he saw her.

"Usagi-chan!"

They both looked over and saw a girl with short, blue hair walk towards them. He dropped the piece of hair of hers that he was holding.

"Ah, Ami-chan I thought you had your computer club today?" Usagi was startled.

"Something malfunctioned on the printer, so we decided to go home early while it's getting fixed. Were you able to find a book for your report?" She asked.

"Yes, actually Mr. Satoshi picked out _Romeo and Juliet_ for me." Usagi gestured toward him then back at Ami. "This is one of my best friends Ami Mizuno and, Ami, this is our new librarian, Mr. Satoshi."

"Ah, so you're Miss Mizuno, I saw you were the top score for that test that's posted out in the hallway upstairs, it's a pleasure to meet you."

It all made sense now. He knew exactly who she was, Sailor Mercury, the guardian senshi of Wisdom and Intellect. He had looked upon that hologram time and time again that showed all of her guardian senshi holding up the barrier in Crystal Tokyo. In fact, he recalled that she was the one who commanded that they surround Neo-Queen Serenity with the quartz that had encased her protecting her from the blast of the Malefic Black Crystal and from him. He could see from her expression that she saw the resemblance of Prince Demande as well so he knew he would have to be careful around her.

"I'm very well acquainted with Mrs. Tatsumi and I don't ever recall her mentioning wanting to quit working here, it was quite the opposite, actually." Ami said with suspicion.

"You're right she didn't want to quit but, as she was training me, she mentioned that her husband's health is starting to decline so she made the decision that caring for him during the day would be the best thing right now. She seemed very sad that she had to go and kept bringing up how much she would miss the students here." Hopefully she would believe him.

"Oh, I had no idea, I'll have to go visit her sometime and check up on them." She then turned to Usagi, "Well since you found your book, did you want to walk home together?"

"Yes, of course." Usagi knew that Ami was wanting to ask her a million questions about them meeting on the way home."

As Demande checked out the book for her she said, "Thank you again Mr. Satoshi for being so understanding to me, it was really nice meeting you."

"You too, I hope you ladies have a great weekend." He said as he handed her the book.

"I'll see you Monday!" she said as she cheerfully waved back. Ami waved back with less enthusiasm and from what he could see, was trying to steer her out of the room as quickly as possible.

He couldn't believe the sudden development that just happened. One minute he was wallowing in self-pity, the next minute, she appears to him like an angel descended from the heavens to answer his prayers. This also confirmed that her fellow guardians attended this school with her. Sailor Mercury would be one thing but, the one he truly needed to avoid would the seer of the group, Sailor Mars. She would be able to sense the dark energy that he has been infiltrating himself with and no disguise would be able to prevent that, he could've of kicked himself for not thinking of this sooner. He hadn't seen her so far and hopefully never will. He then turned his thoughts back to Serenity and the smile that she gave to him; a look that she had never given him before.

' _So your name is Usagi Tsukino. Beautiful…'_

Now he wished Monday would come as quickly as possible. He checked his watch and saw that it was now time for him to head home, so he clocked out and left.

He entered his apartment and found that it was empty, which was strange since Saphir usually greeted him every evening when he returned from work. But just as he thought of this, Saphir happened to walk through the door.

"Hey, how does it feel to finish your first week of work?" He asked his older brother.

"It was great, I've really come to like it there." Demande replied, he couldn't stop smiling. "Where were you at?"

"I was actually just about to tell you my good news that I am officially enrolled in a university!" Saphir exclaimed.

"What? When did this happen?" He asked.

"Whenever you were at your first day of work. I figured since Rubeus and Esmeraude will eventually live with us, that we should find a way that we could make more money to support all of us so that's when I started to look into it. I found this one college, Kitasato University, had a Pharmacy studies program which I thought would be perfect for me since I have most advanced knowledge of alchemy in this time. I took the accuplacer for it and of course, passed with flying colors, I mean you wouldn't believe how behind humans of this time are in academics. I just got the acceptance letter today so whenever courses start to open up in a few weeks is when I start. But don't worry, I'm only taking night classes since someone needs to be here during the day advancing the Jakokusuishou's power. I was just up at the school signing up for my courses. Well, what do you think? I know I kept it from you but, I wanted to surprise you." Saphir told him trying to gain approval from him.

"I don't know what else to say, except that I'm proud of you. You never cease to amaze me in how much you look out for us. Maybe I'll eventually enroll too since you make it sound so easy." Demande really was proud of him.

"You can! With my impressive scores that I received, I was offered an academic scholarship, which is free money, paying for the majority of my tuition! Can you believe it? No doubt, you would be able to get scholarship money as well since you are far more brilliant than I." Saphir exclaimed.

"That sounds great." Demande responded.

His little brother had always idolized him as if he was a deity that had no imperfections. But, what he didn't know is that, in turn, Demande envied his little brother as well. He was always able to carry out his ambitions with a level head and never let anything that happened to him alter the integrity of the person he really was. In some ways he always felt as if he should have been the first in line for the throne.

"I say this calls for another celebration don't you think?" Saphir said cheerfully.

"But, I have to take my turn on working on the Jakokusuishou." Demande replied.

"You have your whole day off tomorrow that you can do it, we need to take breaks to clear our minds from time to time so that we don't burn ourselves out, it'll effect growth rate of the crystal since we're still not at the level that we were on Nemesis. Besides, humans use the weekends to rejuvenate from the work they do during the week and we should too."

"Well alright if you insist, but, I'd like to go somewhere this time with a decent selection of red wine." Demande smirked.

* * *

 _The Next Day:_

At the Hikawa Shrine, all the senshi were gathered for an emergency meeting that included Haruka and Michiru to discuss the recent events of the attacks in Juuban.

Haruka spoke to the rest of senshi, "Thank you everyone for gathering here today, I know it's everyone's day off but, the attacks on citizens in this area are becoming more frequent. Michiru and I wanted to inform all of you that in the past 3 months, we have detected 6 beings that have breached the Earth's atmosphere."

Ami then interjected, "Six, are you sure? Let me see there's Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Star Healer, Sailor Star Fighter and Sailor Star Maker. That would be only four though. Who would the other two be?"

Michiru then spoke, "That's why we wanted to discuss the matter with you all. We have yet to encounter any of the new senshi but, we know that only you guys have witnessed these people for yourselves. We sensed the energy of the other 2 only briefly and are unsure as to who or what they are. They came to the Earth at a much later time then the first four so we we're thinking that there's a possibility that they may not have a connection to them. Try and think really hard on your recent battles with the new enemy. Did any of you see anyone else that were working with Sailor Iron Mouse or the Starlights?

They all began remembering the past few battles they had but seemed to come up nothing.

"I can't recall seeing anyone other than those four I'm afraid." Rei replied.

The rest of the senshi agreed.

"That's what we figured. We'll be keeping a close eye from now on, on these attacks. Just remember your duties on keeping the princess safe, while we try and locate the origins of these new senshi. We have Setsuna and Hotaru already up to date on the matter and if we find that any of these beings have entered our Solar System from another, then they are considered intruders and need to be dealt with by us." Haruka gave her final thoughts on the matter.

"If any of you find out any more information on the star seeds or the identity of the two unknowns, please contact me and Haruka immediately." Michiru said. She and Haruka got up from their seats, waved goodbye to everyone and walked out of the room.

"Two more people? Who could they be?" Makoto asked.

"I'm not sure, but, I suppose we'll be finding that out soon enough." Ami responded.

"Wait did Haruka and Michiru leave?" Usagi asked.

Everyone looked at her and saw that she was in the middle of reading a book and most likely didn't pay attention to any of the meeting that just happened.

"Were you seriously reading that the whole time? Ugh, at this rate the Earth is doomed." Rei groaned.

"Hey that's not fair, I'm trying to bring my grade up so I don't fail. Besides, it's starting to get interesting, I'm finally at the part where Romeo meets Juliet for the first time. You know it's funny, I see a lot of similarities between this story and our former lives in the Silver Millenia. The way that the Capulets and Montague's were always in disagreement reminds me of how the Moon kingdom and the ancient Earth of the past was. I'm so glad Mr. Satoshi suggested this for me." Usagi turned her attention back to the book.

"Speaking of which, are you sure that this Mr. Satoshi is really who he says he is?" Rei asked.

"Yes, even though I just met him yesterday and don't know much about him, he seems really nice and I think we can trust him," Usagi replied.

"Yeah I can't picture the Prince of the Black Moon Clan working in our school's library. That seems a little out of character for him." Minako giggled.

Ami commented, "Regardless we'll definitely keep a close watch on him. Just like Haruka said, we need to keep you safe no matter what and we don't want another incident like the one that occurred in Crystal Tokyo to happen again, especially since Tuxedo Mask isn't here at the moment."

"By the way, how _are_ things going with Mamoru-san in America?" Makoto asked.

"They're fine." Usagi answered quietly.

"I imagine you miss him a whole lot." Minako added in.

Usagi responded, "Yes I do…more than you know."


	6. Chapter 5-Seiya Kou

Monday morning came, beginning the new school week and while most of the students were dreading that their weekend had come and gone so quickly, Demande was more than thrilled in returning so that he could be by _her_ side. He arrived at the school earlier than he was supposed to in order to catch her before classes would begin. Unfortunately for him, he was unaware of her bad habits of showing up barely on time or late every day.

As he approached the school, he noticed yet again a large crowd of students gathered around the entrance which had been there every day since he started. Normally he just passed right by it, but, curiosity got the better of him this time and he decided that he would see for himself what all students were trying to observe every morning. He made his way through the dense crowd trying to get to the front so he could get a better look at what all of them were trying to see but, they didn't make it easy for him. He then spotted one of his fellow colleagues in the crowd that he had started to become acquainted with.

"Miss Kurogane-san" he called out to her. She was the home economics teacher for the first years at the high school and it was her second year of teaching as she was still young, only being in her mid-20's.

"Ah Satoshi-san, good morning, did you have a good weekend?" she replied back to him.

"Yeah, I can't complain. I've been meaning to ask but, why are all the students crowded around here?" he asked.

"You mean you don't know? Oh I suppose you wouldn't since you just started here. A few weeks ago we had some students that transferred here and to everyone's surprise, it turned out to be the Three Lights, can you believe it?!" she announced with enthusiasm.

"The Three Lights? I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with them." he said.

"Are you serious? They're the most popular music group right now! They sing the songs "Nagareboshi He" and "Todokanu Omoi," you've must have heard those on the radio at least." She said dumbfounded.

He just looked at her with a blank stare and shook his head.

"I can't believe it, they're all anyone talks about nowadays. Anyway, the students gather around the entrance before school starts, so that they can catch a glimpse of them since they limit themselves on who they interact with. They're all very excited about this!"

"I see, so I get why the students are out here but, why are you?" he gave a suspicious smile to her.

"Oh me? You see..um..with such a crowd, the students they need some…umm..supervision in order to prevent them from getting out of hand you see." She started to blush and get nervous. "Okay fine, I'm a huge fan of theirs as well and since none of them are taking my class, it's my only chance to get a peek at them too."

She started fidgeting her hands nervously, "But please don't tell any of the other faculty members about this, a lot of them are much older than me and would look down on me if they knew I was out here acting like a silly school girl again. You're even younger than me so I figured you of all people would understand these interests."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." He chuckled.

"Oh look! They're here now!" She pointed over the limousine that was pulling up.

The mostly female crowd started to get even more lively, pushing further on until security guards held them back before letting the celebrities out of the vehicle safely. The door opened and three figures exited one at a time calmly. He noticed they all seemed to be wearing different uniforms than the other male students which he thought drew even more attention towards them.

The first one leading the other two was tall, had a long, brown ponytail and seemed to have a gentler demeanor out of the three. The second boy had a very feminine look to him with his hair in the same style but his bangs grown out and had a similar color to Demande's natural hair color; he looked very disinterested about the people screaming for them. The last one once again had the same lower ponytail styled hair that was black and started waving to the crowd, actually acknowledging his fans. In Demande's opinion, he had a cocky aura about him and could see that he was loving the adoration he was receiving.

He didn't know what it was but from the moment he laid eyes on them, he could sense something from them that he couldn't explain. It was as if all the noises and people began to fade into the background and all he could see was just those three men. He thought he was the only one who felt this, until the last one of them seemed to look over directly at him, even lowering his sunglasses to get a better look at him with their eyes meeting momentarily. Something was off about them.

"It's exciting isn't it?" Miss Kurogane commented.

All the noises and people came back to his senses normally when she spoke and the three men started to get closer towards the entry way to the school now. He didn't know if he had imagined what just happened or not.

"So, who are the Three Lights?" Demande asked her.

"Oh I see you're intrigued too, huh? There is Taiki, Yaten and then the last one is Seiya, he's my personal favorite and is quite the heart throb among the ladies, but, of course they all are." She gleamed.

"Seems like an arrogant prick to me." He mumbled.

"What was that?" she asked, still not taking her eyes off of them.

"Oh nothing, I'm heading inside now, see you at lunch." He waved at her.

He entered the library getting everything set up for the day, making sure books were put up and organized but, he couldn't help have what he sensed back then linger in the back of his mind. Is there a possibility that those 3 boys are like him and not native to this planet? Nah, he brushed off the idea, and looked up at the clock counting down the hours to when he would see her again. She said that she would start coming in here after school so he was hoping that she would stay true to her word.

' _That last one is Seiya, he's a heart throb among the ladies.'_ He thought of what Miss Kurogane said.

Sure, he was able to capture the affections of such simple females on this planet but, there couldn't be a way where someone as regal and refined as the queen could fall for such a person. Besides she also said that they don't even associate themselves with the other students at the school much so they probably haven't even ever crossed paths. He was sure he had nothing to worry about.

* * *

 _Later that Day:_

Usagi's final class ended and she could not have been happier about it since Monday's were usually not her best days. However, as lethargic as she was, she was looking forward to continue reading her book that she had started. Since all her friends had club activities going on for them, including Rei at her school, they weren't able to hang out after school that much and she felt that she needed something to help take her mind off her current problems. She was ashamed to admit that she felt left out at times since she didn't have particular set of interests like her other friends had to keep her busy. They didn't offer any clubs where you could sing, dance, eat snacks and that offered trips to America and she had attempted at joining the Anime club but, she was tired of her friends poking fun of her lack of artistic ability so, she decided that just focusing on bringing up her grades would be the best thing for her right now. If she could improve herself to become a better student, it would show her maturity to Mamoru and maybe he wouldn't feel the need to ignore her like he had been.

She took out the book from her suitcase and put it on her desk before she was to head downstairs to the library.

"So you picked _Romeo and Juliet?"_ Seiya was hovering over her shoulder.

He had startled her slightly, "Oh, yeah, sorry I forgot to let you know that."

"Couldn't you have picked something less…girly? Something with a little more action." he teased.

"Well excuse me, I wasn't aware that you were going to be picky since _you_ were the one that left it up to me to choose the novel." She said with irritation.

He chuckled at her, "I'm just kidding, you're right, I did say you could pick what you wanted. I'll check out a copy as soon as I can. But, I would think you would want something that had more of a happier ending."

"Seiya! Don't spoil it for me for me, I've never read this before." She screeched at him.

He continued to chuckle, "Sorry, I assumed that you knew, I won't say another word about it, till you're finished." He smiled at her.

They walked out of the classroom together into the hallway while Yaten and Taiki leaned against the wall once again patiently waiting on him to be done socializing with his classmate so they could be on their way to rehearsal.

"Where are you heading to now?" Seiya asked her.

"The library. I was planning on going there to get my book read since I can't hang out with any of my friends afterschool." She replied.

"Would like me to walk you down there?" He offered.

"Oh um-" she looked over and happened to notice those same group of girls staring at her giving her an evil glare that even some of her former enemies never gave her. "Actually, that's okay I don't want to make you late for your rehearsals."

Yaten then intervened, "Yeah Seiya what are you thinking? You already have Akane-san pissed off at us because of your behavior last week, making her wait on us is just going to make even her madder." Taiki was still just standing there laughing to himself at Seiya's shocked expression.

"Oi, why don't you announce it to the whole school." He retorted.

He turned back to Usagi to see her giggling then gave her a warm smile. "I'm glad you're talking to me again, I miss that smile. I guess he's right, I'd better get going, I'll see you tomorrow Usagi." He then turned to his bandmates and started walking away.

"Hey how many times do I have to tell you not to call me-!" she caught herself realizing that for the first time, he called her by her actual name. Heat started to rise to her cheeks but, she didn't know why and didn't have time to think on it. She didn't want a confrontation with those girls as she could still feel their stares on her so she hurried downstairs.

As she approached the library, she stopped short when she heard her friends call to her, "Usagi-chan!"

"Hey everyone, you all rushed off out of class pretty quick." Usagi said.

"Sorry, we wanted to spy a little bit on the Three Lights' rehearsal before heading off to our activities and wanted to say bye to you before we did" Makoto said.

"You wouldn't happen to be heading into the library now, would you?" Ami asked.

"Yeah I was going to read some of my book there before heading home." Usagi replied.

"Can't you just read your book at your house? I really wish you wouldn't go in there without one of us, we still don't know anything about this man." Ami told her.

"Ami-chan weren't you the one that said that people look like other people all the time?" Usagi asked irritated.

She answered, "Yes, I guess I did, but-"

"We're all in the same building so if anything were to happen, it's not like I'd be completely helpless. As incompetent as you all make me out to be, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." She turned and walked away from her friends.

"Usagi I didn't mean-" Ami reached out to her but she already left them.

The group turned to each other before Minako put her hand on Ami's shoulder, "It's okay Ami I don't think she meant it, but, we really should put more trust in her. She is our leader after all."

"Yeah, you're right." Ami said somberly.

Makoto checked her watch, "Hey, I think we can still make it to the music room."

"Oh yeah let's go." Minako grabbed Ami and made their way over there. "I wonder what Yaten's wearing."

"Minako you're terrible." Ami said laughing as they walked away.

When she stood in front of the door to the library, Usagi immediately regretted how she snapped at her friends. Ami did have a point that she could be too trusting at times and knew that she was only trying to protect her. She turned around to apologize, but saw that they had already walked away, out of sight.

She entered the library with a sulky expression on her face and sat down at one of the tables. Mr. Satoshi seemed to be stacking books up and placing them on a cart, not noticing that she had just walked in.

When he turned to her direction he was so surprised to see her that he accidentally knocked over the top half of the stack he just made.

' _Dammit'_ he thought. He didn't want her to think of him as clumsy.

"Oh Miss Tsukino, I didn't know you were in here, good afternoon." He tried to pretend that little moment never happened.

"Good afternoon." She replied dryly.

"Is something the matter?" he noticed that she seemed to be upset about something.

Realizing that she was being too obvious with her emotions right now, she immediately snapped out of it pretending like everything was okay.

"No not at all, I'm just a little tired that's all." She forcefully smiled at him.

"Oh, alright, how are you liking the book so far?" he asked. He knew something was wrong with her but he didn't want to pry further into her business.

"I love it. I usually only read manga's but this story really draws me in." she replied.

He didn't know what a manga was but he just went along with it. "That's great, I'm glad you like it. I've never read it before either so I decided to check out my own copy so I could read it at the same time you are and I figured with this I could also help you if you have any questions."

"Wow, you didn't have to do that, that's so nice of you!" she said. She started to feel her mood lift.

"It's no trouble, it looked interesting enough. I'll leave you to continue reading it while I put some things away." He smiled at her.

She opened her book and took out the bookmark that held her place and as much as she was anxious to start reading it again, she couldn't help but watch him as he put books away. He was carrying an incredible weight of books with ease, even for being a male of his stature, but maybe they weren't as heavy as they looked she thought to herself, she turned her attention back to her novel. After getting through another chapter of it, his voice interrupted her.

"Do you mind if I sit here to fill out some paper work? My desk area is a mess right now." He asked her.

"Not at all." She motioned for him to sit across from her.

As he started to concentrate on it, she once again turned her attention away from her book and onto him, studying his face. She just couldn't get over how much he looked like him. The way his hair was styled, his face and even his voice was identical to Prince Demande's. But, there was subtle differences as well like the color of his hair, his eyes, some of his mannerisms and the fact that he was wearing clothing of this time.

"Am I distracting you?" he asked her.

She blushed realizing that he had caught her staring at him and hid her face behind her book, "Oh, no I-I'm sorry."

He grinned at her, "There's no need to be sorry, you must have had a question and didn't want to interrupt my work, am I right?"

"Well yes, I did have a question actually, but not about the book." She said.

"Go ahead." He turned his full attention towards her.

"I noticed your hair and eyes..are you from the area?" she asked him.

"Originally no, I actually grew up in Kyoto but, as for my appearance, me and my brother were both adopted at very young ages and the identities and whereabouts of our biological parents are unknown so we could very well have come from another part of the world." He had already came up with this alibi long ago.

"Oh, so you have a brother?" just like Prince Demande did.

"Yes, Shinjiro, he is attending University right now and once I save up enough money, I will be joining him. What about you, any siblings?" he asked.

"Yeah I have a little brother named Shingo, he'll be starting secondary school next year and he can be such a pain sometimes."

He chuckled, "Even though me and my brother are close in age, we have had our disagreements in the past, especially when we were children."

They then began to talk more about her life as he asked what her interests are and she talked about hanging out with her friends, going to the arcade, her favorite foods to eat, her family life. It was great, he never knew much about the Queen at all since she always kept her personal life a secret to the public. All he knew about her was that she lived a past life on the moon and was reincarnated into this time era, but to get this much detail about her was more than satisfying to him. He then, took notice of the ring she was wearing.

"That's a pretty ring, did your boyfriend give that to you?" he asked.

"Yes, actually." She replied. Even though he knew the answer to that already, he couldn't help but feel a slight sting from that answer.

"Does he attend this school?" he asked.

"No, he actually just transferred over to Harvard University in America and won't be back for a year. I'm not very happy about it but, I know that this is a great opportunity for him and for our future together." She said with a gloomy expression.

"Future together? You're pretty serious then."

She nodded, "Me and him both love each other very much and have been through so much together to get to this point. I know he thinks of me while he's over there and so I write to him every night."

"You said a whole year, huh?" he asked.

"Mhm, maybe even more if they offer him to stay longer." She said.

To be dropped into a time when the King wasn't even around, for an entire year, was not only incredible luck, but it had to be fate.

"What about you?" she asked.

"What about me?" he replied.

"Do you have a significant other? she asked.

"Well, I actually had a fiancée. But, we recently broke off our engagement and that is when I decided to move up here with my brother so that we could have a fresh start." He lied.

"That's too bad, why didn't it work out? Oh wait, I'm sorry I don't know you well enough for you to tell something like that, forget I asked." She said nervously.

"Not at all, me and her were just going in different directions with our lives and realized that we weren't the right people for each other. I know that the right woman is out there for me somewhere and…maybe closer than I know." He said looking directly into her eyes as if sending subliminal messages towards her, but she was too naïve to understand that he was actually talking about her. She just looked back into his eyes, mesmerized by the beautiful color they had as if two pieces of jade were put in place shining back at her.

' _I can't believe that fool of a king would leave her here for anyone to just snatch her away. She'll be mine in no time and no one can get in my way now.'_ He thought.

Soon a voice broke their gaze.

"Oi, Odango, you're still here?" A male student walked into the library, a man Demande had become familiar with only that morning.

"Seiya I swear if you call me that one more time, you'll regret it I promise you!" Usagi scowled at him.

"Is this man bothering you, Miss Tsukino?" Demande asked, unaware with how people joke with each other.

"No…remember that deadbeat partner I told you about that couldn't work on this project with me, that's him." Usagi pointed at Seiya.

"Deadbeat? That's a little harsh. Why are you still here? The school closed 10 minutes ago." Seiya informed her.

Both her and Demande looked at the clock and realized how long they were talking for.

"Eh? I'm so sorry Mr. Satoshi, I didn't mean to keep you here that long." She apologized to him.

"It's my fault actually, I lost track of time." He began gathering up his paperwork.

Seiya just taking notice of him finally asked, "Who is this guy?"

Usagi replied, "You're so slow Seiya, he's our librarian."

"I thought Mrs. Tatsumi was our librarian?" he asked.

Demande interrupted, "She was, I just started here last week."

"Ah I see, I'm Seiya Kou." He held out his hand to shake.

"Tohru Satoshi." He returned the favor and took his hand.

Immediately, a slight shock of energy could be felt between them and their faces clearly expressed that. They quickly pulled their hands away from each other.

Seiya looked bewildered but then regained his composure, "I actually need a copy of _Romeo and Juliet_ before I leave, if you don't mind."

Demande grabbed the copy that he had for himself, "Here you can take this, I'll put it down tomorrow that you checked it out, something tells me I won't forget this."

He handed him the book and they both just looked at each other for a moment as if they anticipated something else to happen.

Seiya then spoke, "Well I must say it's not every day that a school gets a male librarian."

"Seiya that's rude! I'm sorry, I don't think he meant it like that." Usagi turned to Demande.

"Oh don't worry I don't take offense to it at all, it's all I could find on short notice. It must be nice to make a living by prancing around on stage in your skin-tight clothing." He smirked at him.

Usagi couldn't help but burst out laughing but, then stopped when she started to feel the tension between the two.

"Well since the school's closed I guess we better be leaving then." She turned to Seiya, then to Demande, "I'll see you tomorrow, sorry again for keeping you here so late!" she waved back to him with a cheerful smile.

"It's not a problem at all, see you tomorrow Miss Tsukino-san." He watched her walk away with that conceited, jerk.

"Nice to meet you, thank you for taking care of Miss Odango-san for me, I'll make sure she gets home safely." Seiya said back to him as if gloating.

He couldn't believe it, never would he have thought he could hate anyone more than the King of Crystal Tokyo. On Nemesis, if anyone had spoken to him the way that he did, there would be no question that he would be executed on the spot. The way he acted so familiar with her, touching her, and the way he looked at her, he didn't like whatsoever. Did this man realize that he was teasing and messing with the future ruler of their entire planet? If this was his planet that is, there is something more to this man than meets the eye and he is going to find out what that is.

' _And when I do…I'll dispose of him.'_ He thought. Wait, what was he saying? It must be from working on the black crystal the day before, he had worked on it longer than usual since it was his day off. Although, if it did come down to it and someone came in the way of him and her, he would have to resort to his powers whether Saphir approved or not.

* * *

Every day during the week, it was the same, she would come in after school, read a little of her book and they would end up talking about, well, everything until the library closed. As much progress as he was making in gaining her trust, he noticed that in every moment that she wasn't in class, she was with that damn Seiya. He would always pull her away in the hallways and he didn't know if it was on purpose or not, but, it would especially be when Demande was trying to make small talk with her. He guessed that Seiya was as suspicious of him as he was of Seiya.

Saturday eventually came once again ending the school week and the library was completely dead. He was anticipating on _her_ coming in at least but, I guess since it was the weekend and even he couldn't draw her in for spending extra time at school. He decided to close the library down early since no more students would be coming in that day.

When he walked out of the school building, it was nice enough weather so, he felt like taking a stroll around the school grounds before he went home. The campus seemed to be lifeless, which was understandable since all the students must have hurried home by now, all except this one lady that walking towards his direction. She almost looked like a child but was dressed in a business-type, black suit with a matching hat to go with it. Her hair was white and styled in two, curled pigtails wearing sunglasses to conceal her eyes. Normally he wouldn't think much of it but, when they crossed paths, he could feel an intense, evil aura emitting from her. Were his powers off today or did he really feel what he just did? When she gained enough distance from him, he turned around and followed her to see where she was going. She entered a separate section of the school that was the music room where those Three Lights would be rehearsing at.

' _Oh well, if she is a non-human, hopefully she blows them to bits for all I care.'_ He thought.

He was about to turn and head home until he saw Usagi from a distance beginning to walk into the building as well. He started to run towards it to dissuade her from going in any further, until a third person came into focus and walked into the building as well. She was wearing a school uniform that wasn't from Juuban and she had long, black hair. When she inside all he could do was stare at it like a deer in headlights, he didn't know why but he was hesitant to go in now.

That is until he started to hear screams of a woman followed by several loud bangs that sounded like explosions coming from inside. He immediately ran to it reaching the front entrance about to open the door before he heard:

"MARS STAR POWER! MAKE UP!"

Did he hear that right? A few moments later as his hand was still hovering above the handle he then heard another voice that he knew all too well call out:

"MOON ETERNAL! MAKE UP!"

* * *

 _Autor's Note: Thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited my story so far. This is the first story I've ever written so I'm surprised I've gotten any at all to tell you the truth. I'm new to fanfiction but have loved some the stuff that I've read on here so much that it inspired me to come up with something on my own. This story mainly follows the events of the anime but, will also include elements from the manga so I just wanted to establish that. Like I said, this is the first thing I've ever written so my grammar and writing isn't the best (I wish I could write as beautifully as some of you can) so if you see any mistakes that bother you enough, just message me and I'll try to correct them when I can. Hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	7. Chapter 6- A Friend's Warning

"Moon Eternal! Make up!" he heard her shout through the closed doors.

A bright, pink light began to shine through the small windows of the building briefly before disappearing, the startling glow was enough to make Demande shield his head with his arms anticipating a large blast to go with it.

There was a silence after that and though he had never considered the possibility before, he had concluded that the petite woman he had passed by earlier must be a new enemy of theirs. However, he had no time to dwell on this, the silence was broken when he began to hear a loud bang coming from the other side of the building now.

He quickly ran to where all the commotion was coming from. Thankfully there was a single window large enough to where he was able to actually view what was going on inside and was even able to faintly hear voices. As he carefully peered into the window, he heard someone shout:

"Star Serious Laser!"

Without warning, another bright, white light flashed causing him to immediately duck underneath the window. He heard a woman shriek in pain before hitting the ground with a thud. If Usagi was in danger, he needed to do something quick even if it were to risk exposing his powers.

"Hold it right there!" he heard.

The reassurance of Usagi's voice, brought him to gaze back into the window where he was finally able to see everyone clearly. On one side of the room, he saw Sailor Mars raising a flaming arrow, pointing it at someone, standing beside Sailor Moon, the Queen's senshi form of the past. Though, her uniform was much different than the last time he saw her, as if she evolved into a different form that was adorned with a pair of wings on her back that looked like that of an angel. The sight of her like this was so breathtaking that it was hard to peel his eyes away to look at the two other figures that were opposite to them. On the floor in a weakened state, was someone that didn't look human, almost like one of the droids he and his clan would send to the Earth of the past but, with Saphir being the only one who could create them, he knew this was not the case. This person was not the one Mars was taking aim at, but the last and final figure that was in the room.

A tall woman who was dressed in a scantily clad, black outfit matching the color of the long pony tail that trailed down her back stood atop a flight of stairs looking down on them visibly displeased. Something about this woman seemed awfully familiar but, he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

If Sailor Moon and Mars had just arrived at that moment, then that meant this woman must have attacked the creature sitting on the floor so, he was confused as to who the enemy actually was in this situation since they seemed to actually be defending it.

He looked back to the other side and saw Sailor Mars mouth something to Sailor Moon, arrow still in hand, and when they both nodded to each other, she pulled out a large wand and pointed it at the creature. A light was then released from the head of the staff emitting all the colors of the spectrum. What he saw next was the most beautiful display of power he had ever witnessed, the wand twirling and rotating hypnotically by the young sailor soldier until she called out her attack, "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"

The creature was hit by the attack causing her to raise to her feet with her arms and legs spread out in anatomical position shouting her last words, "Beautiful!"

A gust of feathers surrounded her then fell and what remained of her now was not a creature, but, a normal woman. A jewel that was floating above her head appeared to merge with her before she collapsed to the ground. He was unaware that the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou had such capabilities but, he also realized that he had never even actually seen it in action before and never really knew the full extent of it's power.

It was so magnificent, so powerful, he was so awestruck that he kept playing the scene he just saw over and over in his head losing focus of the situation. He snapped of it and looked back inside the window to find that the room was empty now except for the former creature who was still lying on the floor. The sound of the door opening caused him to tense and press himself firmly against the brick wall so that he couldn't be seen. It was Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars walking out the back entrance of the music hall so that they couldn't be spotted by anyone, talking to each other. He decided to listen in on their conversation hoping to get an idea on what just occurred and who those people were.

"You heard her just now, didn't you? I don't think Sailor Star Fighter actually wants to fight us." He heard Sailor Moon tell Mars.

"Not exactly, all she said was that she hoped we weren't an enemy but, her attacking the Phages are definitely a problem for us since she could end up killing the human that's inside of them. You remember what Michiru said, that the Starlights invaded our solar system and that has always brought us trouble in the past." Mars responded.

"I know but, I still can't help in wanting to trust them. There's so much about all this that we don't know for either side and we still haven't even found those other two people that came to Earth. Haruka and Michiru said they've been here almost 3 months now, I wonder if they will appear to us soon." Sailor Moon said.

Upon hearing this, Demande froze in place. This was bad, she had to be referring to him and Saphir.

"I'm sure they'll reveal themselves to us soon. The question is: are they in an alliance with Sailor Iron Mouse, the Sailor Starlights, or working alone." Mars pondered.

Sailor Mars stopped walking then abruptly raised her arm blocking Sailor Moon from taking another step.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Sailor Moon asked her.

"I don't think our job's over yet, I'm sensing something evil coming from over there, it could be Sailor Iron Mouse." She pointed in the direction leading to Demande.

Demande immediately started to run to the other side of the building.

"Come on, if we don't hurry, she'll get away!" Sailor Mars shouted to Sailor Moon before running in the very same direction as him.

He rushed inside the building before they could see him, pushing the doors open so hard that they slammed intensely into the walls before they crept back shut, definitely making his presence known at that point. He panicked on what to do next. He knew that damned sailor senshi would be trouble and he was right, he had to find a way to escape this place without leaving a trail to him. He opened another door that led further inside into another section of the building but, unfortunately it seemed to be a dead end for him, having only a single closet to be his last option in hiding. He heard them enter the front door with their footsteps coming closer and closer to the room he was in so, he quickly went inside the closet to think of some kind of plan. With the short seconds counting down, he was left with his last resort. Though, he hadn't done this since he lived on Nemesis nor practiced it since his return, he had no other choice but to try and transport his way out of there. If he were to be caught it would be the end of everything as he knew it: the chance of a relationship with Usagi, his brother's trust in him and a chance at having a happy life on this planet. He closed his eyes and concentrated all of his powers within him, picturing a place of safety in his mind. Even though the footsteps were becoming louder, he knew that he had to keep a clear mind in order for this to work. He had done this a million times in the past but, without being at full strength with the dark crystal, it would take much more of an effort to accomplish this task that used to be so seemingly simple for him. He could hear them approaching the front of the closet now.

"Sailor Moon, brace yourself, I think she's inside here." Sailor Mars told her. Sailor Moon got out her scepter, preparing for an attack while Mars began to turn the doorknob to the closet.

It was the last sound he heard before he was met with a comforting silence. When he opened his eyes, he was in the living room of his apartment, alone. He couldn't believe it, he had actually gotten away.

Moments later his brother emerged from his bedroom giving him a questionable look.

"That's strange I didn't hear you come home." He said to him in a suspicious tone.

"I tried to enter quietly in case you were resting." Demande replied.

"Oh..thanks. It seems as though the sessions in growing the Jakokusuishou aren't straining my body as much anymore which I consider to be both good and bad. I'm starting to detect Rubeus's and Esmeraude's energies much more frequently now so it shouldn't be much longer before we'll be able to bring them into this time and into this world." Saphir told him.

"Ye-yeah? That's good news." So much had been happening lately that he had almost completely forgotten about Rubeus and Esmeraude and that made him feel terrible.

"So where did you want to go tonight? I was thinking the place we went last weekend, it seemed to be pleasantly quiet and relaxing unlike the first place we tried." Saphir asked.

"Oh. Saphir not tonight I'm just not feeling up to it." Demande said. He had wanted to be able to sit at home to sort through his thoughts and take in all this new information he had just learned.

"Nii-san come on, the time I get to spend with you nowadays is very minimal. Classes are starting to open up so I'll be starting school next week then we'll hardly even see each other after that. Once Rubeus and Esmeraude come to live with us, I don't even know if we'll have the opportunity to have this quality time anymore with just us. Please?" Saphir pleaded.

He was right, this is probably the most they've ever gotten to have time together, just the two of them. Not as a prince and one of his advisors but, just as brothers. He realized he had to take advantage of it while he could and spending the whole night thinking about this new development would only further stress him out anyway.

He smiled softly at him, "Alright brother, wherever you'd like."

* * *

They arrived at the place they had hung out at the weekend before just as Saphir had suggested. It was a bar that wasn't too upscale but, had a lounge area with plenty of seating. There seemed to be much more of a full house than there was last weekend but they didn't mind.

Both men placed their order to the bartender, Demande ordered his usual choice: red wine, while Saphir, who wasn't much of a drinker, ordered the house special that night which was a type a sake. As they sat on the bar stools waiting for their drinks, Demande told him some of the funny stories he had from his work that usually consisted of idiotic things his coworkers said or did.

As they exchanged laughs, the bartender gave them both what they ordered and left their tab open. Since it was starting to get noisy in the bar area, they made their way over to an open booth. Saphir starting university soon was exciting for both of them and Demande didn't want to spoil the good mood with letting him know about the new senshi he had encountered and the fact that their presence had been discovered.

After going through a few drinks each, Demande decided to try something more… spirited. He had such a high tolerance for liquor normally but it had lowered since coming to this planet, which was fine since he was beginning to feel a pleasant buzz and wanted to keep it going.

He placed his order to the server for a glass of whiskey on the rocks, Saphir ordered one mixed with water; neither of them had ever tried it before. When the server brought it to them the brothers were now in deep conversation recounting memories from their childhood years, before Demande inherited the throne. Even though they led a very structured life, they still had their few moments where they got to play, have embarrassing mishaps, living almost carefree. The moments were few and far in between, but it made them even more precious to hold onto.

He had to admit to himself that, having these nights actually enjoying the pleasures of life instead of the constant planning and disappointment of taking over Earth, made him almost glad that he had to renounce his position as Prince.

All of a sudden Demande began to take a more serious tone.

"Saphir, do you think Wiseman could still be out there somewhere?" Demande asked him.

Saphir shifted in his seat uncomfortably, tapping on the glass that contained his liquor.

"I think..rather I hope he was defeated and that bastard is long gone by now. But I guess it's also a possibility that he retreated when he underestimated the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou's power and could be somewhere out there. Why do you ask this all of a sudden?" he asked his older brother.

"No reason. I just think about it sometimes." Demande said. He had contemplated on if the new enemy could be working for him but, it was nothing he could bring up to Saphir.

Still sipping on their drinks, they were oblivious to the attention they were getting from the other females in the bar and didn't even notice when two walked up to their table. They both looked up at the girls at the same time surprised and unaware at how long they had been standing there for.

"Excuse us but, my friends and I were wondering if you'd like to come join us at our table." The first girl said, motioning to another section of the lounge area where two other girls were sitting. They all seemed to be around him and his brother's age dressed in short skirts and dresses that would make even Esmeraude blush. The one who asked them was obviously eyeing Demande.

Demande politely replied, "Thanks, but we'll probably be leaving here soon."

The girl then pouted and put her arms on their table leaning into it, purposely exposing her cleavage out of her low-cut top she was wearing. "Awe come on, just have one drink with us before you both leave."

Her friend that came over with her now started to lean against the booth Saphir was sitting in then spoke to him, "We noticed you both here last week as well, do you guys come here often?"

Saphir nervously replied, "Not really, this is only our second time here."

The first girl spoke again, "What are you guys drinking? Normally we're used to getting drinks bought FOR us but we'll make an exception with you if it'll convince you to come over since attractive men like you are rare to come by in this town. How does that sound?" the girl further leaned into Demande's personal space.

As a man, his eyes couldn't help but look at her large chest hardly being contained by her top with her long, black hair flowing over it. However, rather than feeling aroused, all it did was make him feel very uncomfortable so, he turned instead to look up at her face where she was staring into his eyes with hers that had a hunger to them making him feel even more uncomfortable. He once again declined her offer.

The other girl who was clearly interested in Saphir began to make her attempt with him hoping they'd change their minds. She too had black hair, but instead of wearing it long and straight, it was curled and fell just below her shoulders. She was dressed a little more conservatively than her friend, which wasn't saying much.

"What about you? I can get you another glass of what you're having or maybe a shot of something? Your choice of course." she asked him with a flirty smile.

He didn't know what to say, him and his brother have never had to deal with this before. Women on their planet would never dare to approach them like this and even Esmeraude wasn't so blatantly aggressive with her affections for his brother.

"Come on, don't tell me you guys have girlfriends?" She pried further.

Saphir looked at Demande first then looked back to her, "Yes..we do.." he thought it silly to lie but he knew that these girls were going to be very persistent with them and not take no for an answer.

She then folded her arms looking visibly disappointed to her friend, "I figured as much. Those must be some very lucky girls."

The girl that was flirting with Demande took her arms off the table and took a napkin from it jotting something down on it.

She sighed, "Well it was worth a shot. If you guys ever want to hang out sometime here's both our numbers. I'm Natsumi and this is my friend Yukiko. If you ever get bored with your women, just give us a call and we can show you a good time." She then stuffed it into Demande's jacket pocket.

She smiled at him then motioned for her friend to go with her back to their table. The other girl, Yukiko, smiled at Saphir and gave a small wave to him then Demande, "You guys have a good night." They almost seemed to have an innocence of school girls now.

After they returned to their table, both men just sat there without saying anything to each other, almost appearing defeated. While most guys would have been thrilled to garner the attention of such attractive women, they didn't feel as such.

As much as Saphir wanted Demande to look at other women to get _her_ off his mind, he never did and he couldn't blame him because he of all people could understand exactly what he felt. Two years have gone by on planet Earth since they came here the first time, possibly hundreds of years had passed on Nemesis after their deaths, but for them, they hadn't had the time for their feelings to go away. For them, they still felt the same way as they did in their final days if not stronger now. When he told those women that they had girlfriends already, it was only a reminder that they couldn't have the women they truly wanted to fill that title.

The way Demande felt for the Queen, Saphir did for Petz who he couldn't even allow himself see. Sure, after they fulfill their plans to bring Rubeus and Esmeraude back and destroy the black crystal, he would then be able to contact her if he wished but, the fear of her forgetting about him or possibly having moved on prevented him from taking that chance. He thought about her every day since they came here as hard as he tried not to; he couldn't help it, he was in love and the biggest regret he had was not realizing it sooner. Demande didn't know this but, Saphir sometimes would go to the apartment building that she lived at and just gazed at it far enough away to where she would never be able to see him. He didn't even know if she was still living there or not but, it was a comfort to even just pretend he was that close to her. He hoped someday he could see her again just to know that she's doing well and that she's happy.

"How about we close our tab and call it a night?" Demande said to Saphir.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired now." He replied.

"Me too."

They got up from their seats and walked out of the bar oblivious to the two "WANTED" signs attached to the bulletin board that had composite sketches made of them:" _WANTED FOR MURDER: Information leading to capture will be rewarded: 5,000,000 yen."_ Had it even remotely resembled them, they may not have brushed past it the way they did but, the only things on their minds at that moment was go home.

* * *

 _Monday:_

Demande finished opening up the library earlier than usual, before the first bell even rang, so he decided to open up the doors, hang out in the doorway and watch the students walk inside the school to pass by the time. He knew that he most likely wouldn't run into Usagi until after school for he had become aware by now that she wasn't punctual in the least bit. In fact, she had many qualities that he didn't anticipate on her having but, it made her all the more…interesting. He had spent the day before working on growing the black crystal and it felt like it carried over to the next day with him. Every time after working a full day on it, he would always have the most restless night trying to sleep. He felt his personality shift when he spent that much time on it. He felt darker, his thoughts were darker and he desperately needed her light to counteract that darkness.

Coincidentally, just as he was thinking about her, she happened to walk through the front entrance. He checked his watch to see if maybe he was the one who was unaware of the time, but it was still almost half an hour away until the warning bell would ring. What a rare occurrence this was and what was even more rare, was that she was alone, without any of her senshi surrounding her or that damn Seiya. She happened to notice him looking at her and smiled back before going up to him.

"Good morning Satoshi-sensei." She said to him.

"Good morning" he replied to her. "Miss Tsukino-san you don't have to call me sensei, it's not like I'm your teacher or anything."

She laughed her high pitch laugh, "I guess that's true."

"I missed you on Saturday, it was quiet dull without you, but I know it was the beginning of the weekend and you probably wanted to get home." He wondered what excuse she would say.

"I'm sorry, I found out that I failed my exam for math so I had to have a study group at my friend, Rei's, for it." That was half true. "That's why I came early today, so I could have the chance to review some of the problems beforehand. I guess I better go do that while I still have time, I'll see you after school!" she started to walk away.

He called out to her, "Wait a second, anything I can help you with?"

She pulled out of the material from her book bag and handed it to him.

"If you'd like, I could show you some shortcut methods to some of these problems?" he asked hoping she would say yes.

"Alright, but, I'm still kind of confused on some of these equations so I hope I won't frustrate you as much as I did my friends." She laughed nervously.

"Nonsense, come inside." He walked in the library still carrying her math book.

He put her stuff at one of the tables and pulled out a chair for her. She sat down in it slightly blushing at the gesture and he sat in the chair next to her. In the next 20 minutes he did the best he could in tutoring her which he had never done before, but it wasn't too hard since the material was so simple for him. Saphir was right, these people really were behind in mathematics. The stuff she was learning in high school, he had learned before he was even a teenager, but this was 1,000 years in the past so it wasn't too farfetched.

"Wow I already understand it so much better than when Ami-chan tried to teach me, I really feel confident I can actually pass this!" she gleamed.

"That's good, I'm glad. How about you try doing these practice problems in the book since the bell's about to ring then I think you'll be ready to take it without much difficulty." He handed her the math book.

She nodded back at him with a big smile then started writing down the problems on scratch paper.

As she was fully concentrated on her work, Demande took this opportunity to just enjoy being in her presence, studying her profile and admiring it. He couldn't help but have a dreamy look read on his face as he now felt completely at ease.

Unbeknownst to him, Seiya and the rest of the Three Lights entered the school building making their way to the classroom while there weren't too many students roaming the halls yet. As they passed by the Library, with it's doors still open, Seiya happened to glance inside and noticed Usagi and the librarian sitting at one of the tables. He slowed his step a bit to get a closer look. She was working on school work, most likely the make-up exam that he himself had to take as well but then he looked over at him, and he was wearing an expression that disturbed him deeply. How close he was sitting next to her and the way he was looking at her gave him an uneasy feeling, a bad feeling. He had known since the moment that he laid eyes on him that day in front of the school, that something wasn't right about him. Seiya had tried his best to keep Usagi at a distance from him even though he didn't have a legitimate reason to but, this was all the proof he needed that this guy was bad news and at the very least he had to at least try and warn her.

"You worry too much for that girl, Seiya, don't forget why we're here." Yaten said noticing that his friend had fallen behind him and Taiki. He allowed Seiya to have his fun while they were on Earth but, this girl was starting to become a distraction to him and if she began to get in the way of their objective then he would have to intervene.

"Yeah, yeah…" he replied, not wanting to take his eyes off of those two as if something bad would happen to her once he looked away.

The first bell finally rang giving them only 10 minutes until the tardy bell would sound off so she would have to leave for homeroom soon anyway. He ran to catch up with Yaten and Taiki before they would be bombarded by their many fans. He would have a talk with her sometime today about it and he hoped it wouldn't put a dent in their friendship, she was stubborn like that.

Upon hearing the bell ring, Usagi glumly said, "I guess I better head to class now."

Demande was looking over the last of the problems she had attempted to solve and surprisingly, she had gotten most of them right. He handed the paper back to her.

"I think you'll do just fine on your test Miss Tsukino, if you decide to come down here after school, let me know how it went." He assured her.

"I will, thank you so much for helping me out." She gathered up her things and gave him a smile. "See you later." She waved at him before walking out of the library.

He waved back at her with a satisfied, smug look on his face.

* * *

 _Later that Day:_

"An 83?!" Minako yelped in disbelief.

"Mhm" Usagi nodded feeling proud of herself.

"I don't get it, we went to the same study session, how did you get almost 10 whole points higher than me?" Minako hung her head in shame.

"It doesn't matter, the point is, you passed and now we don't have repeat a grade!" Usagi patted her on the back.

"That's true.." she said feeling slightly better.

Seiya walked over to them, "How did you ladies do?"

They each presented their grade to him.

"Very nice. I passed too in case you were wondering." He then held up his make-up exam with his marks displayed on the page in big, red numbers.

"EHHH 98?!" both Usagi and Minako yelled in synchronization.

Seiya was amused with their reactions, it was better than he had expected.

"I had some down time in the studio and did some extra studying since Akane-san is recovering right now and didn't hold rehearsals yesterday." He said with a large grin on his face.

Minako looked at the clock that hung inside their homeroom, "Oh crap, I'm going to be late for volleyball, I'll see you guys later, bye!" she left the classroom leaving Usagi and Seiya alone.

"Well I'm going to head to the library now." She took her copy of _Romeo & Juliet _out of her book bag. "See you tomorrow Seiya!" she started to head out the door quickly so that she could avoid those group of girls that always glared at her.

"Wait! Usagi, can I talk to you about something?" He gently grabbed her arm.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked.

"I saw you earlier this morning with the librarian." He told her wearing a serious expression on his face.

"Yeah, Satoshi-san helped me prep for the makeup exam." She replied, confused as to where he was going with this.

"I know, it's just don't you think that the way he acts with you is a little…unprofessional?" he questioned.

"How is an employee of this school helping a student with school work anything other than being professional?" she asked, getting slightly irritated at his assumption.

"It's not that, it's just the way he acts around you. From what I heard, he hardly even acknowledges the other students, if he doesn't have to, yet, he goes out of his way to talk to you, sit with you, help you with your schoolwork. Don't you find that a little bit suspicious?"

"Seiya, you're over thinking things, so you heard from a couple of people, at the most, that he wasn't particularly social with them and now all of a sudden he's too social with me? It's because of him that I was able to do so well on this exam, so if you're suggesting that I should stop going down there then you're have to going to give me a better reason than that."

Usagi at this point was at her limit on how much she could hear him bash Satoshi-san after he's been nice in helping her out. She started to walk out of the room without saying anything to him but he grabbed her arm once again.

"I just want you to listen to this one last thing, I have to say before you leave, please?" He couldn't tell her about the negative energy he had sensed from him that day, she would think he was crazy or just making things up but he had to come up with something to keep her safe from him.

Usagi let out a sigh, looked back at him and just stood there giving him her undivided attention to what he was about to say.

"I won't tell you to not see him anymore, I just want you to be extra cautious when you're around him, that's all. As I had mentioned earlier, I saw you two together in the library this morning but, the way he was acting towards you just didn't sit right with me, especially the peculiar way he stared at you every time you turned away from him."

She wrinkled her brow in confusion, "Stared at me? You mean looking over the school work I was doing."

"No that wasn't at all what it was. I don't know how to explain it. His expression would completely change whenever you weren't looking, he would look at you like…like…" he had trouble finding the word for it.

"Like?" she said impatiently, trying to get him to spit it out.

"Like…that of a man in love."

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! With my new job it's hard for me to write for this story as often as I'd like but I definitely want to keep it going because I still have certain things planned for it that I want to see come to life. Thanks again for everyone who has followed, favorited or even read it for two seconds before clicking over to something else. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 7-An Unexpected Visit

"What did you just say?" Usagi asked Seiya.

"I said that the look I saw him give you this morning was as if he were in love with you." he repeated himself.

She just looked at him with a blank expression on her face for several moments before busting out with a hysterical laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" he was taken aback by her reaction.

"Oh Seiya, I didn't know where you were going with this, but now I see that you're just trying to mess with me." She said while regaining her composure.

"I'm not joking, I'm dead serious." He said.

"Look, I don't know what you _think_ you saw, but, there's nothing going on like that between me and Satoshi-san. He has never acted like he had feelings for me for even a moment." She assured him.

"Maybe on the surface it appears that way." He said.

"But, I'm just a high school student and he's practically a teacher, I doubt he would think of me like that." She said.

"He's not that much older than us so it's not like there's this huge age gap like with our other teachers." He said.

"Seiya I appreciate you trying to look out for me but, I really can take care of myself." She told him calmly.

There was a long pause between them before Seiya began to sigh and then smile, "I suppose I can't convince you otherwise then."

She shook her head, "I think you mistook what you saw for something else." She said smiling back at him.

"You really are a trusting person…" he let out in another sigh too low for her to hear.

They started to walk outside the classroom together, where Yaten and Taiki were waiting for him in the hallway as usual.

"Oh, by the way, how far along are you in the book? I'm more than halfway finished and started taking notes for our report since we'll have to begin writing it soon." Usagi asked him.

Seiya stopped just outside the doorway and placed his hand on the back of his head rubbing it, "Well…actually I kind of haven't gotten the chance to read it yet." He chuckled nervously.

Her face went from pleasantly calm to extreme agitation as she turned around to look at him, "…..What do you mean you haven't had the chance to read it?"

"What can I say, the life of a pop idol is very demanding." He joked but then changed his tune when he saw the angry look on her face. "Don't' worry, we still have more than a month until it's due. The rehearsals are going to take a little longer than I had anticipated since we'll be having to do them without Akane-san for a short while since she's still recovering but, I promise I'll make it a point to start reading it today."

"You better, because if I fail, I'll be coming after you!" she pointed at him but noticed he looked almost amused at the threat. "Why the hell do you keep smiling at me like that for?!" she yelled.

He placed his hand on her head now and started patting it. "I'm sorry, it's just Odango is extremely cute when she's angry. But, I got to go now, please be careful down in the library, okay?"

Seiya took his hand off her head and went to go collect Taiki and Yaten before they walked down the hallway.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" came a voice heard in the distance.

Usagi looked over to see those very same group of girls that she was trying so hard to avoid.

"I know." Another one spoke, "Why does he allow her to hang all over him like that all the time?"

' _Me? Hanging all over him? Are they blind?!'_ she thought.

Even though the girls could see that Usagi was now looking directly at them, that still didn't deter them from continuing their barrage of insults.

One of the girls, who seemed to be the leader of the group, that had long, olive-green colored hair spoke next, "Girls, don't worry I'm sure he's just being nice to her to maintain a charitable image. He just feels sorry for a monkey girl like her, that's all."

When all the girls began to laugh, Usagi turned to head down the stairs before she could hear anymore. Normally she was used to people criticizing her and was usually able to ignore it but, for some reason what that girl said really hurt. All it did was remind her of the grim reality that the possible reason that her boyfriend had stopped talking to her was because he too saw her as a 'monkey girl.'

At first her pace was fast so that she could quickly get far away from them but, once enough distance was gained, it began to slow with her feet dragging each step she took until she realized she was standing outside the door of the library.

Her head hung low in defeat and she questioned on if she should just go home for the day instead, even though she had told Satoshi-san that morning she would come down when classes finished to let him know the results of her test. But then she thought about it and it's not like he would really care if she did or not, after all, he was the librarian and she was just another student in the school, no different from any other to him.

As she turned around deciding to leave, Satoshi-san happened to be directly behind her while reading a paper in his hand, unaware of his surroundings, causing Usagi to once again clash into him.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry." She told him.

"Don't be, I was the one who wasn't paying attention. I hope you weren't standing outside long, I had to go to a quick meeting with some of the other faculty members so I had to close the library for a while." He told her as he unlocked the door.

When he opened it, he motioned for her to go inside.

"Um actually, I think that I may read this at home today, I'm pretty tired." She told him.

He looked at her face, even though she was trying to avoid eye contact and could tell that something happened to her. Her eyes were extremely glassy as if she were trying to hold back tears and she wore a sad expression.

"Is something wrong? Did the test not go okay?" he asked her.

She shook her head, still avoiding eye contact. "No, I not only passed, but made the best grade in math I've scored all year." she said in a quiet voice while forcing a smile. To think just 15 minutes earlier she was on such a high and now crashed down to the lowest level possible from just a simple remark.

"That's great I'm happy for you. I know that you may not feel up to it right now, but maybe I could help take whatever's troubling you off your mind. With club activities going on right now, I don't think anyone will come inside the library anymore today (at least he hoped). But, if you still want to go home, I completely understand and won't take offense." He gave her a warm smile.

' _I wish you wouldn't go in without one of us, you still don't know anything about this man.'_

' _He looked at you as if he was in love with you.'_

Ami and Seiya's warnings echoed in her head, however, she wasn't going to let anyone dictate her actions nor let those girls get under her skin anymore.

"Alright, I think I will stay." She walked inside before him.

He noticed a change in her demeanor just now but, wasn't going to question it, he liked to think that he was becoming somewhat of an influence on her now.

She set her things down on one of the tables while he placed his things on his desk. As she started reading her book, he was enjoying the solitude of them being the only people in the room. All day that day, the library had more students in and out than he had experienced before since he started working there. At first he was unsure why there was all these students coming in, mainly females, but Miss Kurogane-san had informed him of his new sudden popularity he was gaining among the young, high school girls.

* * *

"Someone sure is giving the Three Lights a run for their money." She teased him while they were on their lunch break.

"What do you mean?" he had asked in a disinterested manner.

"What I mean is that I can't get through one my classes without hearing the girls gossip about the 'cute and mysterious new librarian' I had a group of girls nearly burned their soufflé to a crisp not paying attention because they couldn't stop talking about you." She giggled.

He slightly blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't worry they're harmless, I know I shouldn't be telling you this but, I wanted to see how someone as uptight as you would respond to such news." She continued to giggle when he shot a look at her.

"Uptight?" he responded, in a higher pitch than normal.

"Yeah, you act so prim and proper all the time for someone who is so young. How old are you, 21, 22?" she asked him.

"20…" he replied.

"See, now while it's refreshing to meet a guy who is so polite, you need to loosen up a bit and smell the roses a little more, you're young, enjoy it." Miss Kurogane told him.

' _If only she knew_.' he laughed to himself.

* * *

"How was your weekend?" Usagi interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up from his desk to her. "It was fine, how about yours?"

"Well I mainly spent it studying at my friend Rei-chan's house with Ami, Minako, and Mako-chan and they kept getting on to me for getting easily distracted." She laughed.

"Rei…..I don't recall seeing you around a girl named Rei. What does she look like again?" He asked her. His instincts told him that, she must be the identity of the fourth senshi, Sailor Mars.

"She has long, black hair and is very beautiful but, Rei actually doesn't go here, she goes to an all girl's private academy so we see her outside of school." Usagi told him.

Excellent, this confirmed his suspicions about her not attending this school; he can easily avoid her and won't have to worry about her uncovering his identity to Usagi.

"So what about you? What did you do over the weekend?" She asked him. He was surprised that she was trying to continuously make conversation, not that he minded, it just showed that she was getting more comfortable around him.

He walked over and sat across from her and told her about the evening he and his brother had at the bar together, leaving out the details about the two girls hitting on them of course.

"That's so sweet how you and your brother are so close." Usagi commented.

"Well he's the only family I have left and I haven't been here long enough to have made any new friends so we're all each other has at the moment." He told her.

After some small talk between them, Usagi eventually went back to reading her book while Demande began to fill out the papers he had received in the meeting.

When he looked away, Usagi once again, turned away from her book and looked at his face admiring his features.

' _Had Prince Demande been as handsome as this man is?'_ She wondered. The situation at the time was a dire one to have paid attention to such things and she felt slightly guilty for even thinking of it. But it's weird, ever since she had met this guy, the nightmares she had been having of him lessened and if she did have them, they weren't as frightening as they were before; maybe meeting Satoshi-san was giving her some sort of closure to her past.

Feeling her eyes bearing down on him, he looked back at her and suddenly, his light, blonde hair changed to white while his eyes changed to violet causing Usagi to gasp and scoot back her chair making a loud, screeching sound.

"What's wrong?" he asked urgently.

She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, when she looked back at him, his hair was once again blonde and his eyes, green. Did thinking of Prince Demande just now cause her to hallucinate?

"N-Nothing." Her eyes still looked as if she had just seen a ghost.

"You thought I was him again, didn't you?" he said.

"Who?" she asked.

"The one you had mistaken me for the first time we bumped into each other. You called me a name, Prince…..Diamond, Demand?" he tried to play stupid.

"Prince Demande." She mumbled in embarrassment.

"Right, that's the one. Does this man frighten you?" he asked her.

She thought about it seriously before answering. "He did…once. But, I eventually realized that he was just…misunderstood."

Her answer was surprising to him to say the least yet, reassuring but, he couldn't allow any reaction to show on his face. An awkward silence passed between them and needed to get rid of it fast, saying the first thing that came in his mind to lighten the mood.

"A Prince huh…do I really resemble a Prince?" he said playfully while folding his arms making a regal pose with an obvious cockiness that was almost an imitation of Seiya. Miss Kurogane made him realize that he needed to act more in character of an Earth man of this time.

She started to laugh and realized that her eyes must be playing tricks on her for there's no way this man could be _him_.

"So you're friends with a prince, a pop idol and the girl genius of the school; you sure do keep some interesting company." He told her.

"That's nothing, my friend, Rei who I mentioned earlier is a shrine maiden on the path to becoming a head priestess, Makoto is both the most masculine yet at the same time the most feminine person I have ever known that can garden and cook as good as my mom yet be able to hold her own in a fight with a man twice her size, Minako is fluent in English, excels in volleyball and is both talented in dancing and singing who could eventually surpass the Three Lights as a pop idol. There's also my friend, Haruka, who is a famous race car driver, Michiru who is a world renowned violinist, and then…." She trailed off.

"And then?" he asked.

She sighed, "And then there's me…" her face saddened once again, "Who can't do anything."

"That's not true." He told her.

"That's sweet of you but, it is. As you can see already, I'm horrible in school, I don't have any skill that I can say I'm good at and whenever I try something new, I either fail at it or quit. I'm just ordinary and that's all I will ever be."

He was surprised at this and didn't know what to say. For her of all people to think of herself as just ordinary when she is the guardian of this planet and it's future ruler, on top of being a reincarnate of Lunarian royalty. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he always thought of her as an untouchable goddess who had no imperfections and she seemed to exude that, but to know that she had such insecurities about herself was absolutely unexpected.

"To be honest, if it wasn't for me being their prince-," she cleared her throat, "friend, then I believe they probably wouldn't waste their time on someone like me." Her eyes dropped away from him and onto the table.

He sat for a moment in disbelief with another even more uncomfortable silence between them before getting up from his seat. He sat down next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder; not in a romantic way, but as a friend would to comfort another friend. She turned her face back to him feeling the temperature in her cheeks rise.

"You may not be good at those particular things your friends are, but what you do have is much more special."

"I wish I could believe that." She glumly told him.

"No, it's true. I may not know you well enough to make that judgement, but you have this positive energy that surrounds you almost like a glow that's magnetic to everyone around you. You approach people without judging them first, you always smile, and believe me that smile of yours is contagious. I know when I'm around you, my troubles seem very distant and I feel very open to talk with you just about anything. Your friends see that, your boyfriend I'm sure sees that…hell, even that imbecile you hang around with, Seiya, sees that." he assured her.

She contemplated this a few moments.

"Hm, it's funny. What you just said, all my friends have told me something similar to that before but, I never really believed them and thought they were just trying to be nice. Coming from you though, I don't know why, but, I actually think you're telling me the truth, Satoshi-san." She smiled.

"I am, I wouldn't lie to you and between you and me since we're starting to become friends, you don't have to call me Satoshi-san, call me Tohru." He said.

She smiled, "Alright Tohru, you can call me Usagi instead of 'Miss Tsukino-san' then."

"Only when we're alone though, I know there's certain people who think we're getting a little too close and getting misconceptions about our friendly relationship." He said sarcastically.

"Oh, you heard…?" she asked hesitantly.

"Just part of it, the meeting I attended was held in an empty classroom a few doors down from your homeroom and I was passing by to go downstairs when I heard my name being said so forgive me for eavesdropping on your conversation."

"Seiya really is a good guy, he just-"

"-misread what he saw." He finished for her, "It's okay I didn't think anything of it. I remember what it's like being that young and inexperienced with life, he was just being..territorial is all." He smirked.

"Territorial? What do you mean-"

"Usagi!" a voice was heard at the door.

She looked up to see who called her name, "Naru! Did drama club get canceled today?" Usagi asked.

"Canceled? It's over." She pointed at the clock.

Usagi turned to see that once again she kept him past when he was supposed to close the library.

"I'm so sorry, I have a bad habit of losing track of time." She apologized.

"It's not a problem, it's just 5 minutes passed." He stood up.

"Oh, so you're the new librarian, I've heard so much about-I mean, hi I'm Naru." She greeted him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Tohru Satoshi." He smiled at her.

When they locked eyes, Naru felt a sense of déjà vu and tried to remember something she had forgotten.

' _Why does he look so familiar, I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've met…?'_ Naru thought to herself.

"Naru's my oldest and most dearest friend, I've known her since elementary school along with her boyfriend, Umino." Usagi told him.

"Ugh, don't even get me started on that jerk." Naru grunted.

"Are you mad at him again?" Usagi asked.

"I'll tell you about it on the way home. Unless you're staying longer that is." She gave an evil grin.

"No, no, I'll leave Mr. Satoshi-san to close the library down." Usagi turned to him. "I'll come by again tomorrow after school."

"I look forward to it. Have a wonderful evening ladies." He then smiled at Naru. "Pleasure to meet you, I hope to see you in here some time." She blushed in response.

Usagi and Naru walked out of the library and then out of the school. Demande rushed to close the library as fast as he could since Saphir started his first set of classes in less than half an hour and wanted to see him off so he could wish him luck before he went.

* * *

 _Later that night:_

It wasn't a bad first day for Saphir even though it was an experience unlike any he's ever had before, having to be around so many strangers, but, it seemed that many were in the same position he was in of not knowing anyone else. He was looking forward to getting adjusted, meeting new people and hoped he would eventually make some friends here so that he wouldn't have to depend on his brother's company all the time.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to say goodbye to Demande since he must got held up at his job but, Saphir did leave earlier than he said he would because he wanted to make sure he would make it on time and took the right bus routes, so it wasn't his fault.

He exited the bus a few stops earlier than he was supposed to, taking a more indirect way so that he could enjoy a nice walk on a night such as this. This way also led to Petz's apartment building which was his true intention for going, where he could wish her goodnight from afar.

With the streetlights lit up, the seemingly quiet neighborhood he walked through was a refreshing change in comparison to the busy city he lived in that was always overcrowded with people, it was the kind of place that he would eventually like to live in some day. He turned the corner on one of the streets, and in the distance, he saw the silhouette of a young girl in a school uniform standing outside of her gated house who seemed to be checking her mailbox. She was standing away from the light so it was hard to get a clear look at her but after she opened the lid to it, the figure stood still, just staring inside of it. It seemed like forever until she moved again, finally closing it shut and even though he was several houses away, he could begin to hear a small sob escape from her. He shied away back around the corner before she spotted him, not wanting to make things awkward for them and continued to watch her until she decided to go inside her house so he could move on again.

The porch light all of a sudden came on and the front door to her house opened slightly.

"Usagi! Is that you?" A female voice called out to her.

The girl frantically rubbed her eyes and wiped away the tears from her face, "Yeah mom I was just checking the mail, I'm coming in now."

She walked to the entrance of the gate where a street light shined down on her, even from far away he could see the blonde, hairstyle that he knew all too well. He inhaled sharply letting a small noise escape from him and completely hid himself before she detected his presence. When he thought it safe, he peaked back around, seeing that she had already walked inside shutting the door to her gate.

' _It can't be her, it just can't. Maybe it just looked like her.'_ he thought to himself over and over. But he just had to make sure.

While she was still outside, he swiftly made his way over to her house and cautiously looked through the metal bars that separated her house from the sidewalk. Another lady was standing outside their front door that he assumed was her mother.

"Usagi, I didn't expect you to be out this late, did something happen?" she asked the young, girl.

She shook her head, "I just lost track of time, I'm sorry."

Her mom could obviously tell that something was wrong but all she said was, "Alright sweetie, just next time call me and let me know because I was starting to get really worried. I saved you a plate from dinner if you're still hungry."

She lifted her head up with the porch light exposing the details of her face and he could now clearly see that his fears had become a reality. She was indeed Neo-Queen Serenity's past self, Sailor Moon, the one who had emasculated his brother and encaptivated his heart; the one who could ruin everything that they have accomplished in their plan to bring back their fallen comrades.

"Thanks mom." She said before they both walked inside and closed the door behind them.

He lifted his head up, looked up at the stars and sighed. This could not be happening. He knew she had to live somewhere in the area, but, he thought that the chances of them ever seeing her were relatively low. If they hadn't of been desperate and in need of a place to live when they first arrived here, he would've suggested settling somewhere further away. On the other hand, while this wasn't his ideal situation, now he at least knew the general area to avoid and more importantly, to have his brother avoid; her whereabouts must be kept from him at all costs.

* * *

 _The Next Day:_

 _Dearest Mamo-chan,_

 _How are you doing? So much has happened since the last time we saw each other. Last night there was another attack and had I not been in the area with Luna, Ami-chan could have been seriously hurt by a Phage, but thankfully, Sailor Star Maker was there with her holding it off before I was able to transform and heal it back into it's human form. We still have no updates on who the enemy actually is and I pray that by the time you come back, it will all be solved but I have a feeling what has happened here lately is only the beginning. I hope you have been receiving my letters, I know how unreliable the post office can be and maybe that's why I haven't gotten any replies yet, however, I know that you are always thinking of me as I am you, my love. I'll try calling you again tonight and will write to you again tomorrow._

 _Love you always,_

 _Usako_

 _P.S.-I almost forgot to let you know that I made an 84 on my math test! I sure have come a long way from the test score I bopped you on the head with the first time we met :P_

Usagi checked her letter once again for any grammatical errors. She was in class but, was so bored with the lecture that she used this opportunity to pretend like she was taking notes. Besides, it was the end of the day and she was progressing well in her English project enough to get away with a little bit of a distraction.

Before she knew it, the bell rang ending school once again which was her favorite time of day, even more so now that she looked forward to visiting with Tohru in the library. He was so easy to talk to and made her feel as if she could do anything. That light he talked about her having, was starting to fade these past few months but now she felt as if she was regaining it and began to develop a new-found confidence in herself because of it.

"Is that a letter to Mamoru-san?" Minako creeped up behind her.

"Uh, yeah." Usagi answered while covering it.

"Can I read it?" She nudged up to her.

"Minako, you can't ask to read someone's letter, that's an invasion of privacy" Ami chimed in.

"It's nothing too interesting anyway, I was mainly just updating Mamo-chan on the events that happened last night. By the way, how is the professor doing?" Usagi asked Ami.

"He seemed to snap back rather quickly after you healed him. I guess the recovery period varies on each individual." Ami said.

"While that's all well and good, can we talk about how close Ami and Taiki are getting here lately, I'm jealous." Makoto walked up to join the discussion.

"Mako!" Ami looked over to see that Taiki was within earshot of them but, was gathering up his school things and looked as if he didn't hear.

"Oh." Makoto covered her mouth and blushed. The other girls started to laugh at the situation. "Sorry." She began to laugh along with them.

"On that note, I'll be heading to computer club now." Ami said with her cheeks still the color of scarlet.

"We'll walk with you." Makoto and Minako simultaneously said.

"See you Usagi!" they all called out to her.

"See you!" she replied.

Usagi was laughing to herself watching Ami walk by Taiki without trying to draw attention to herself.

Seiya, Taiki and Yaten gathered together and instead of Seiya walking her out of the classroom and chatting with her like he usually did, he just simply gave her a wave while winking at her before they left. He must've been in a rush to get to rehearsal so she headed downstairs before bumping into those awful girls again.

When she arrived, the door to the library was closed and had a sign posted on it: COMPUTER DOWN, NO CHECK-IN'S OR CHECK-OUT'S UNTIL TOMORROW.

"Hmm, I guess he closed it already." She said to herself in a pout.

Just then, he opened the door as if anticipating her presence.

"Oh Usagi, good afternoon. Would you like to come in?" he asked.

"Sure, but isn't the library closed?"

"It will be shortly, I'm just waiting for someone to show up that's going to work on the computer, but, you can hang out until then. I'm not expecting him for another 15 minutes." He told her.

"Umm, alright." She entered inside.

He stood leaning up against his desk while she sat at one of the tables. She put her book away since there wouldn't be any point to start reading it anyway.

Demande broke the silence, "So, how was your day today?"

"It was fine. Better than yesterday." She replied.

"I can tell. Mine was pretty busy, a lot of students came in before the computer broke down, I just now finished putting all the books away." He started to whisper, in a not so subtle way, "But too be honest, I'm glad it broke down, getting to go home early is always nice." He chuckled.

Usagi laughed in agreement, "I feel the same way when school lets out early too. It means I have more time to do fun things like go to the park, get ice cream, play at the arcade-" a realization then hit her. "Oh, I forgot I just got my allowance yesterday so I may just go play some games after this!"

"At the arcade?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's one of my favorite places to hang out and let off steam…and blow my money." She confessed. "What about you?"

"I've actually never been to one before." He answered.

Her mouth dropped open, "You're kidding me?! You never went with your friends when you were in high school or middle school?"

"No, my brother and I sort of had a strict upbringing when our parents were still alive that most would have found strange and we never got to do those kinds of things." All of a sudden a light bulb went on in his head that presented an excellent opportunity. "Although, I've always wanted to try it at least once…"

He set the bait, now all she had to do was take it.

She began to feel sorry for him, even Ami was able to do fun things when she was through with studying. Poor guy.

"I don't know if this is too weird but, would you want to stop by it with me before you head home? There's a Sailor V game there that is a lot of fun." She asked.

' _Perfect'_ he thought.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt for a short while. But, I wouldn't tell anyone about this in case there's a misunderstanding, I'm not exactly your teacher but, I'm sure my superiors wouldn't condone me hanging out with a student outside of school." He told her.

"No of course not." No need to tell her twice, if Ami were to find out about this, she would be furious with her.

She reached inside the pocket of her skirt and felt her coin purse inside but, didn't feel the other item she was checking for.

"Oh no, my house keys must of fallen out in class. I need to go upstairs and get them first." Usagi exclaimed.

A man all of a sudden knocked on the door while at the same time, let himself in. "Excuse me, the school called and said you needed some assistance?"

"Ah, yes." Demande said. "Usagi, go ahead and fetch your keys, I'll just be a few minutes."

She nodded and preceded to go upstairs.

* * *

 _Meanwhile:_

Saphir finished his daily chore of growing the Jakokusuishou's power leaving him with the rest of the day free to do whatever he wanted since today was his day off for classes. There was something that he had been planning on doing for a while now, that he figured would be the perfect day to do which was to pay a visit to his brother at his job. He had been dying to see how his brother was in a working environment since he was very vague in what he told him about it, not even letting him know It's location.. Luckily Saphir came across one of his pay stubs that had the address of the library on it and thought it would be amusing to catch him off guard by showing up unannounced. Looking at the clock, he saw that he had just enough to catch him at the end of his shift so he made his way out of the apartment. Still not accustomed to the bright sun on this planet, he slipped on his sunglasses, took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp air and set out to find the place the best he could.

* * *

With no trouble, he eventually arrived at the property, checking the address he wrote down and made sure it matched where he was:

 _Juuban Municipal High School_

A high school? His brother never mentioned the library he worked at was in a school, he had assumed it was a public library, like the ones he checked out books from sometimes. For some reason he began to develop a sinking feeling in his gut. Why, he didn't exactly know but, he stood at the front gate of the school for several minutes looking up and studying the building with it's many glass windows covering the multiple stories it had. He checked his watch and saw that he didn't have much longer until Demande would have to start closing it up, so he continued onward past the sparse amount of students exiting out of the front door.

* * *

Usagi checked around her desk, looking on the chair she sat in, underneath it, all around the area and had no luck with finding her house keys. She tried to hurry, not wanting to keep Tohru waiting on her for long. Looking at the clock, she stomped in frustration before glancing over to where Ami normally sat and noticed them lying beside her desk; it must have happened with she and her friends were gathered around there earlier. She let out a sigh of relief as she picked them up that she wouldn't have to explain to her mother later about losing her only set of house keys.

She was so anxious and excited about this excursion with Tohru and she had no idea why. Maybe because it was nice being around someone for once who didn't tease her and was always positive with her. The only other person who was like that was Mamoru but, the more time passed with him not talking to her, the more she started to question on if everything that has happened between them up until now was only a façade he was putting on in order to fulfill the role that had been already set for them. Destiny had wanted them to be together but, did he, himself want them to be together? She tried to shake off these sudden doubts she was having before she upset herself. There just had to be an explanation for this sudden hiccup in their relationship and all she could do was put her complete faith in him, and trust that one day she would receive that letter or call from him.

Before she headed downstairs, she looked outside the large window that was outside her classroom and stared out into the sky whose blue color would soon begin to transform in to the warm colors of twilight. It was a calming site to her for some reason bringing about a new feeling of assurance that everything would work out for her in the end. After all, how many people could say that they knew the events that would occur in their future? She smiled at this and began to turn away before something caught her eye. Down at the front gate of her school stood a man looking up at the building with short, black hair, wearing a tinted blue motorcycle styled jacket with a pair of black sunglasses that rested on his face. It appeared as if he was looking for someone and felt almost as if he was staring up directly at her, as if she was the one he was searching for.

She placed her hand over her mouth and gasped aloud, "Mamo-chan?"

* * *

 _Author's Note: To get an idea of the outfit Saphir has on that makes him further resemble Mamoru, was what Mamoru was wearing in the episodes: 'I Won't Run Away From Love Anymore: Ami vs. Mamoru' and 'The Legendary Lake Yokai: The Bond of Usagi's Family' while he was brainwashed by Queen Beryl. I thought it fit Saphir's color scheme and wanted to address that so you could get a clearer image of what I was trying to portray. Another thing I wanted to clarify is that this story takes place as an alternate timeline to the Sailor Stars series so, the events that are happening in each episode, are happening simultaneously with the events of this story but, will divert if Demande or Saphir get involved since they were originally not apart of that series. So when the girls mentioned 'the professor', they are referring to the professor Ami meets in 'Entrusting Dreams and Romance to the Stars! Taiki's Transformation.' If you have never seen the episodes to Sailor Stars, don't worry, it shouldn't affect the understanding of the story but from time to time things may get brought up to pinpoint where in the Stars Arc, the chapters are taking place._


	9. Chapter 8-One Bond Forms, Another Breaks

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi gasped in disbelief.

It couldn't be real, this had to be another hallucination. Or, had her prayers finally been answered and Mamoru came back to her?

With her eyes still glued to the grounds down below, the man just stood there still and hadn't yet moved; he was waiting for her, she just knew it and without another thought, she ran as fast as she could to greet him before he disappeared.

* * *

Saphir checked his watch and saw that there wasn't much time left before his brother would have to start closing down the library so, he made his way to the entrance of the school building rather than waste any more time. Some students began to exit the front doors, not a lot but a few, chatting amongst themselves seemingly to not have a care in the world. The energies he felt off of them as each one passed by gave him such a warm feeling inside that he couldn't help but smile to himself; it was the feeling of freedom.

However, that smile quickly faded when, without warning, someone came charging straight towards him at full speed. Unable to react quickly enough, he received the brunt force of the petite, school girl whom he didn't know, as she ran into his arms and encased him with her own. Her face pressed against his chest and he felt her grip tighten as she started to cry out words that he could hardly make out due to them being muffled by his jacket.

"Mamo-chan I can't believe it's really you, I thought you had forgotten me." Usagi cried.

He looked down at the girl that was clinging to him and the first thing about her that caught his attention were the two, blonde buns holding together the long streams of hair that trailed over her shoulders and down to her back.

The sinking feeling in his gut not only returned, but amplified intensely, with confusion and fear being thrown in as well. Not knowing what to do or say, the only words he was able to muster up were, "What's going on?"

Her face finally raised up to look at his, exposing her blue eyes that were beginning to form droplets of tears on her water line. He couldn't believe nor understand what Sailor Moon was doing here with him but, before another word could be exchanged between them, a voice startled them both.

"Shinjiro!"

Both looked over to see Demande standing outside the front door witnessing the two still locked in what seemed to be a lover's embrace. The shout he gave attracted onlookers from other students who were still loitering around outside the front of the school. He was furious, unable to comprehend what he was looking at with his chest visibly rising and falling while he tried to remain as calm as he would allow himself to.

"Shinjiro?" Usagi questioned out loud.

Her brows furrowed as her gaze went from Demande back to Saphir's. She let go of him and stepped away. Then, she slowly raised her hands up to his sunglasses and when they were removed from his face, she could now see the huge mistake she had just made. The paler shade of skin and his eyes that were not quite the correct shade of blue…it was not Mamoru this man resembled, but rather…

' _Saphir?'_ she thought.

The realization on her face was recognized immediately from Saphir causing him to look over to his brother, giving him a glare that showed that Demande's anger had now transferred over to him. Everything became quite clear now on why his brother took a job here.

"I'm so sorry, I thought you were someone else." Usagi told him as she handed him back his sunglasses. The emotions of hurt, embarrassment and most of all, disappointment could be felt by her all at once.

Putting his anger and jealousy aside, Demande walked over to them, and the closer he got, the more he could see the uncomfortable expressions that read on both of their faces.

"Usagi..?"

"This is your brother?" she asked him.

"Yes.." is all Demande could say.

She paused for a moment and began to feel the all too familiar urge to cry.

"I see…excuse me, I seemed to have left something in the classroom." Usagi turned away and ran back inside the school.

Demande reached out to her but, realized his brother was still standing there in complete silence most likely waiting for an explanation. The other students were still eyeing them as well, watching the drama unfold.

"Saphir, what are you doing here?" he asked him.

Saphir forced out a small laugh while he cocked his head in a different direction. He was amused at how his brother was going to turn this around on him.

He then replied disdainfully, "I was here to come visit you today but, it looks as if I interrupted something. I guess I'll see you at home since it looks like you still have business to take care of."

Demande could feel the evil aura of the _Jakokusuishou_ emitting from him, becoming more intense each second they stood there while Saphir's cold eyes pierced through him like daggers; a look that almost frightened him.

"I-I'll discuss this with you when I return home." Demande told him. For the first time in his entire life, he felt intimidation towards his little brother, the dark energy he felt was rising to dangerous levels and he knew Saphir needed to get out of here before a potential disaster could occur.

Without a word, Saphir turned around and walked off school grounds and all appeared normal again to the surrounding bystanders, as they finally took their attention off of them.

He thought it best to let him cool off first before he would talk about this with him. For now, he needed to check on Usagi and make sure she was okay but, more importantly, find out what just happened between the two.

He didn't know where she could've ran off to so he went through each hallway, glancing at all the rooms he passed by, but with no luck. It's not like he could check the ladies room and all the other rooms were either closed off or occupied with club activities still going on so he went to the last secluded place, she could've gone to.

As he opened the door to the rooftop, he immediately saw her small figure in the distance looking out against the railing. It was a very lonely sight to behold, to say the least. He approached the railing as well and stood next to her even though it went unnoticed, her gaze seemed to be lost in the sun that was making it's way towards the horizon.

"Usagi.." he said to her. "I hope my brother didn't say anything to upset you."

She didn't respond at first but then eventually shook her head slightly.

Not wanting to press her any further since she seemed unwilling to talk right now, he told her, "Well, I can see that you want to be alone right now but, I just wanted to let you know that I apologize for whatever happened and hope everything's alright."

She still didn't answer him and as he looked at her profile one last time, he saw lines of tears fall down her face now, tears that she had probably been holding back this entire time.

He began to turn and walk away so that he could give her, her privacy. Then, he heard a sob escape from her.

"I'm such an idiot." She finally said out loud.

He turned back around.

"I thought it was him, I really thought it was Mamo-chan." She cried even further.

' _So that's what it was.'_ He thought. It irked him a little, that she saw any resemblance of her beloved in his brother, but now wasn't the time to dwell on such a trivial matter.

"Usagi, it was an honest mistake, don't be hard on yourself. There's no need to be embarrassed." He went to stand beside her once again.

"No…it's more than that. I was so happy to see him..thought that he couldn't take being away from me any longer but, I was foolish to think that he hadn't forgotten me.."

"Just because your boyfriend is overseas doesn't mean he forgot about you. You tell me all the time about the letters and phone calls and.." he trailed off when he saw her face darken.

"Oh my god…there weren't any letters and phone calls, were there?" He asked.

"There were, but all were from me. I don't know what's happened. Three months ago, my boyfriend gave me this ring, told me he loved me and that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together before he boarded that plane. I haven't heard from him at all since that day." She sniffled.

"That can't be.." Demande was shocked, the King was many things to him but it was always known that he had a deep devotion to the Queen.

She nodded while the tears poured even heavier down her face, "Every call I make to him I get no answer, every voicemail I leave I receive no call in return, every time I open the mailbox it's always empty…every day. I've kept this a secret for so long from my closest friends and my family. I have to walk around them and pretend like everything's okay, not wanting to concern them because they know how much he means to me, but, at the same time this pain is slowly eating me away inside and I don't know how much longer I can take it." she rubbed her eyes. "I'm so sorry for breaking down like this but, I just had to tell someone."

He placed his hand on her back to comfort her. However, when his fingers met with the warmth of her skin, he was bombarded with several images and scenes that flashed through him instantaneously.

The first, was Usagi pounding on a door violently while screaming, although he couldn't hear what it was she was saying. The next was Usagi curling up on the ground inside what appeared to be a phone booth with her face covered in tears, just like now, cradling herself with her school bag still in hand. Another where Usagi ran into the arms of a man whose face wasn't quite clear to him, only to be pushed away, leaving her alone. The last was of her calling out to someone on a motorcycle that didn't stop for her but instead drove away, followed by her collapsing on the sidewalk as her friends rushed to her aide.

He jerked his hand away immediately and the visions stopped as quickly as they came. He no longer felt overwhelmed by them but, was left confused. She didn't seem to notice, and continued to cry into the palms of her hands, hiding the shame she was feeling.

' _Were those her memories I just saw?'_ he asked himself.

It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before and he didn't seem to have an explanation for it. The montage he witnessed was full of many moments, but, they flew by so quickly that it seemed to be just one big blur, having only a few stick with him. They were sad memories from her past and he knew that the man that was in them, the source of her sadness, had to be _him._ It just showed that even the king and the queen's relationship wasn't all that it seemed, and was just as fragile as any other. As much as he felt sorry for the hurt she was feeling, a new since of hope dawned on him.

He felt the corners of his mouth raise slightly while thinking of the possibilities that this could lead to.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you here and that I made such a scene in front of your brother." She spoke again, taking her face out of her hands while her back was still turned to him.

He attempted to reach out to her again, hesitating his touch this time. Nothing happened so, he continued it, gently rubbed her back and said, "You don't ever have to apologize with me, in fact I'm the one that's sorry, I had no idea you were going through this."

"I was trying so hard to improve my grades and better myself but, now I see that it's too late. I was never a suitable enough woman for Mamoru and by now he probably already found someone else at Harvard; someone that's actually compatible with him." She could hardly make out in between sobs.

Demande grabbed both her shoulders and turned her towards him. She turned her head away, ashamed of the tears that covered her now red and blotchy face.

"Don't ever think yourself unworthy because you are far from it. I can't speak for your boyfriend, but I'm sure there's some reason for this, for any man would be lucky to have you." He said.

Her eyes now looked up at his, with a fresh tear falling down her cheek. He cupped her cheek with his hand and wiped it away with his thumb and instead of pulling it away afterwards, he let it linger instead, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin beneath it.

"Thank you." She told him. "I don't know what it is, but for some reason I feel like I can trust you." Usagi placed her own hand on his now.

Her eyes were drawing him in, just like they did that first time he saw her as Neo-Queen Serenity, just like that time 2 years ago when he had captured her as Sailor Moon, and in a way, he felt a familiarity to that particular moment. At that time she too was in a vulnerable state, her eyes filled with tears, his hand bringing her face in closer to his wanting nothing more than to press his lips against hers.

Yes, right now that's all he wanted to do. However, it wouldn't be like last time because, back then, she looked at him feeling disgust and hatred but now, she felt absolute trust in him.

Without realizing it, his face began to gravitate towards hers. He couldn't help it, for so long he had wanted to do this. This time it would be different, he tried to convince himself, nothing about this situation was like last time, nothing at all.

' _Except'_ he stopped from going further, only inches away from her lips. _'Just like that time, her head is still filled with thoughts only for him.'_

The hand he used to caress her cheek now moved to the back of her head, pushing it into his chest with her face pointing outward. He used his other arm to wrap around her and pressed her against him. He'll get what he wanted all in due time, at the rate the king is damaging her trust for him, she'll be his soon enough. Like all fragile things, it's bound to eventually break and he will be the one to pick up the pieces. For now, he had to just stick to the plan and try to hold back as much as his restraints allowed him to until she was completely willing.

"I will always be here for you if you ever need a shoulder to cry on. You've been carrying this burden for too long and if you need to let it all out, feel free to use me." He whispered in her ear.

At first she wanted to push him away, feeling guilty for being in another man's arms but, it wasn't like that with him, he gave her a comfort that she had desperately needed. Her face buried into his chest as she let her tears flow freely while gripping the sleeve of his jacket and for the first time in three months, felt the sorrow that had built up inside of her begin to slip away.

As much as he wanted to enjoy and savor in the feeling of the warmth of her body against his, too many things plagued his mind that distracted him from it. What were those visions he was seeing? How was he able to see them? And Saphir…how was he possibly going to explain all of this…?

* * *

Demande stood outside the door to their apartment; their home, which normally gave him the solace he had only ever received from his throne back on Nemesis, but now, he felt as if he was walking into unfamiliar territory. He had rehearsed on what he was going to tell him over and over in his head and still came up with nothing; there was no excuse he could think of, no alibi to tell, no logical explanation as to why he would almost blow their cover after they had agreed to remain "dead" to everyone who knew of them. He let out a deep breath to prepare himself for what would occur once he crossed over this threshold, however, whatever it will be, he was ready to accept for betraying Saphir's trust.

He opened the door slowly, hearing the loud creak it made, making the situation even more tense than it already was. The lights were turned off, with hardly any sunlight left outside to shine through the windows, making the apartment dark and gloomy.

As Demande set his jacket on the coat hanger, the room lit up unexpectedly, revealing Saphir who was sitting on their living room couch patiently waiting for him this whole time.

"Welcome home, brother." Saphir always said this to him when he returned home from work but the way he said it this time lacked any enthusiasm or emotion.

"Saphir, please let me explain-"

Saphir raised his hand to silence him, "There's no need to explain. On the contrary, seeing that blonde, little twit in the same vicinity as you, was more than enough for me understand everything."

"Look, nothing has to change. I know how the situation looks but, she really doesn't know anything, I promise." Demande pleaded.

"The look in her eyes that she gave me said otherwise. She knows who I am." He retorted.

"She sees the resemblance to your real identity but, I have everything under control." He tried to convince Saphir.

"And what if that's not so? What do you think she will do if she finds out who we really are?" Saphir asked.

"I honestly don't know, but, she's a very kind person, I'm sure if it ever came down to it, she'd understand." Demande said.

Saphir rose to his feet abruptly, "That _Bitch_ banished our ancestors to a desolate wasteland of a planet for simply refusing the _Maboroshi no Ginzuishou_ into their bodies! So let me re-word my original question, just what the hell do you think is going to happen to us if she finds out that we've re-introduced this planet with the _Jakokusuishou_?!" He yelled furiously.

"Saphir don't raise your voice to me like I'm a child. I've learned in the time I've been here that Sailor moon and the Queen are different people and wouldn't exactly make the same decisions."

He walked towards Demande, "But she will eventually become Neo-Queen Serenity, she will eventually think like her and not too far from now she will become a brutal monarch, exiling anyone who dares to disagree with her methods and as descendants of those people, we are living proof of that! With that simple fact alone, it baffles me that you would want any involvement with her."

Demande stood there in silence.

"I knew that you held her on a pedestal above everyone else but, deep down, I was always afraid that included me and I guess that was true as well. I have been poisoning my body with the Black Crystal for you; I kept up my end of the bargain and avoided Petz, the love of my life, just so we could fulfill this plan while you completely disregarded everything for your own selfish needs." His voiced cracked as he finished his sentence.

Demande looked up at him in confusion, "Petz…You mean the leader of the Spectre Sisters? I had no idea that you loved her…"

"Of course you don't. The Queen is all that consumes your mind and is all that you ever cared about. You could never have guessed that I thought of anyone other than you and that I was my own person besides the loyal, brother-servant role that you had already set in stone for me."

"That's not true, Saphir!" Demande raised his voice.

"That day back then when Wiseman attacked me, she found me after I had ran away from Nemesis and recuperated me enough to give me the strength I needed to go find you." Saphir's anger began to take on a more somber tone. "It was then that I had realized how much I loved her and I promised her that I would return to her to thank her not only for helping me when I needed it the most, but for her showing me that I was capable of such a beautiful feeling."

Demande continued to listen.

"We all know how that day ended and I never was able to thank her." His anger rose again, "All because of you. You're the one who blindly trusted Wiseman ignoring my suspicions about him and allowed him to manipulate you and use your feelings for _her_ against you and now, here we are once again, taking a huge risk and for what? So that you can try to win someone's love that will _never_ be reciprocated!"

The dark energy inside of him begin to spike again just as it did at the school, but this time it was able to fester. It was as if he was being possessed by it.

"Well I'm not going to stick around long enough for you to ruin our lives once again!" he yelled.

Saphir started to walk towards the door, grabbing his jacket roughly.

"Saphir where are you going? You're not in the right state of mind to go out there right now!" Demande pleaded with him as he placed his hand on his shoulder to pull him back.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled back and at the same time, blasted an invisible wave of energy powerful enough to cause Demande to fly across the room. He hit the back wall so hard that the impact of it knocked the breath out of him.

He winced in pain and found that his vision was now blurred but that didn't stop him from trying to keep his brother from leaving and possibly causing danger to himself and others. In his weakened state, he made one last attempt to call Saphir back to him but felt his throat constrict as he tried to say his name. Saphir opened the door and looked back at him one last time before leaving, the look in his eyes were animalistic making him unrecognizable even to his own flesh and blood.

After hearing the door slam, Demande couldn't help but recall that time back on Nemesis where he lost his temper with Saphir for questioning his orders and had used force on him in the same manner as he just did. His head hung low in shame now that he felt what he must have been feeling back then, that powerless feeling, as he let out a soft whisper, "Saphir, I'm so sorry."

* * *

Through the still crowded streets, Saphir shoved his way through the busy cross walks, while receiving some angry responses in return but, he didn't care. He only had one destination in mind and wasn't going to waste any more time in doing the one thing he had wanted to do since they came back to Earth.

Then suddenly it hit him that he raised a hand to his brother, something he had never done before or even thought of doing before. All that anger he was feeling earlier started to subside. What had he done?

' _What is happening to me?'_ he asked himself.

The feeling of regret started to wash over him and decided he would apologize to him later but for now he needed to complete the objective he had set out to do before it was too late.

Seeing her building in sight now, the nervousness started to set in and then realized that he hadn't planned on what he do once he saw her. The possibility of her not even living there anymore also crossed his mind but, all he could do for now was try. Across the street from the entrance, he stood on the sidewalk trying to find the courage to cross it and ring that buzzer, but what would he say on the intercom?

'Hi, it's Saphir who you thought was dead this whole time, can you please let me in?'

Now that the opportunity had come, it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be, however, it was now or never. He couldn't let his brother's selfishness prevent him from true happiness anymore. The moment he finally took his first step to cross the street, the street lights began to turn on as the sun was now completely set.

He immediately stopped when he saw a man and a woman begin to exit the front entrance walking arm and arm in a romantic manner. The woman had a smile on her face as she affectionately laid her head on the man's shoulder while her wavy, medium length hair flew freely behind her as did her forest-green colored peacoat. As she stepped under the light that illuminated the front entrance, Saphir could see now the unusual and uncommon hair color the woman had that almost matched the coat she was wearing. There was no mistaking it, it was Petz.


	10. Chapter 9-The Sister of Dark Ice

" _Please don't leave, you're still hurt!"_

" _I need to hurry so I can warn him."_

" _But if you were to go in that condition…"_

" _Petz, please-."_

" _If something were to happen to you.."_

" _I have to go. Prince Demande is my only brother."_

" _But-"_

" _Don't worry, once things are settled, I'll come back here. Please hold onto my jacket until then."_

" _Saphir-sama.._

Memories of a distant past echoed through Saphir's mind as if only to remind him of a future that could never be. With no destination in mind, he roamed through streets of Juuban, still crowded with noisy pedestrians, feeling completely hopeless on what to do. He couldn't have been more than 20 feet away from Petz when he saw her exit her building, but she was so enthralled with the man on her arm that she didn't even so much as shoot a glance in his direction.

' _It shouldn't matter.'_ He tried to keep telling himself. ' _The fact that she's well and happy should be all that's important._

But it wasn't helping at all. Jealousy, a feeling that had never been felt before, gnawed at his heart adding to the uncontrollable anger he was feeling for his brother. The dark energy from the Jakokusuishou surged inside of him, sending chills all throughout his body. Something needed to be done before he could potentially hurt someone in the same way he had Demande, but was unsure about where to go or what to do.

A neon sign lit up in the corner of his eye that caught his attention. It was the sign to the bar that he and Demande had visited just the other night. Saphir recalled the feeling the alcohol had given him and came to the conclusion that it could provide the temporary relief he was in need of.

When he walked inside, he noticed the bar wasn't as crowded as it had been those few days ago. There was plenty of seating both at the tables and the bar area where he took a seat on one of the stools and patiently waited for the bartender while cold sweat dripped down his temple.

"What'll it be?" a friendly voice asked him.

"Whatever you recommend for someone who's having a horrible evening." He replied without making eye contact.

"Sorry to hear that, how about I start you off with something to warm you up from the chilly weather outside?" The bartender offered.

"Sure." Saphir said indifferently while fidgeting in his seat.

The bartender presented him with a white flask that had steam escaping from the top, poured the hot contents it contained into a small cup and handed it to Saphir while placing the flask on the counter in front of him for refilling.

Saphir placed the cup warily to his lips, not knowing that there were alcoholic beverages that were served in such warm temperatures. He took a sip of the liquid and winced when it was hotter than anticipated.

The bartender took notice of his confusion.

"If I may make a suggestion sir since this must be your first time drinking hot sake, it's best to down it all in one gulp."

Saphir gave a nod and did just as he suggested.

His throat felt as if it were on fire for a split second, causing him to cough. It didn't have much of a taste, however, he didn't know if it was supposed to be that way or if he just was incapable of being able to taste anything at that moment with how he felt. He poured himself another drink and repeated the action, then another, then another. In less than 10 minutes he had already finished the flask by himself yet didn't feel any different other than a warmer body temperature.

"Can I get refill?" he gestured, holding up the empty flask.

"No problem." He replied.

The bartender returned with a new bottle and soon enough, Saphir emptied it's contents once again. The warmth felt throughout his body, was soothing, but he wasn't even remotely close to feeling a buzz.

"Need another?" the bartender asked.

"I'll actually have a brandy this time." Saphir requested.

The bartender nodded in acknowledgement then, brought it to him.

He gulped it down and listened to the calming lounge music that was playing in the background before letting his mind wander off. For the first time since their arrival, he started to feel homesickness for Nemesis. Things had been so much less complicated back when he was unaware of his feelings for her. The life on Earth that had held so many wonders and opportunities seemed to have lost all of it's appeal. He had always imagined that one day, he and Petz would eventually reunite and start a life together while on the other hand his brother would eventually find himself a woman of his own; not the Queen, but a regular, Earth woman that could help guide him down the right path, a normal path.

Saphir sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had to come to terms that the dream he had was unobtainable at this point and had to accept it for what it really was, just a dream. He took another sip from his glass, only to discovered that he had emptied all of it's contents as he preceded to flag down the bartender for another.

The as he down it once again, the euphoric effects of intoxication slowly started to overtake him as he finished the last drops of his glass and the pain he felt in his heart from Petz mixed with the betrayal he had felt from his brother started to lessen more and more as the minutes passed by. The bar was starting to bring in more customers, but didn't take notice of any of them as their voice became inaudible background noise.

However, a sudden drop of coin into the tip jar next to him brought him out of his daze when something dawned on him. He reached into his jacket pockets and to his horror, found that they were completely empty. Grabbing money was the last thing he had thought of when he stormed out in such a rush.

"Is there something the matter, sir?" the bartender asked noticing Saphir's look of panic.

"Yes." His hands felt clammy. "I don't know how to say this but I seem to have accidentally left my wallet at home…" he answered nervously.

The bartender eyed him suspiciously but still remained calm.

"Okay..do you have other people living with you?" the bartender questioned.

"I do, but-"

"And are they at your home where your wallet is?" the bartender asked interrupting him.

"Yes, but-"

Before Saphir could answer, the bartender brought him a shiny black phone that had a long, thin cord hanging off of it and placed it in front of him.

"No problem, just call up whoever it is and have them bring it up here." He said politely.

"No!" he called out raising his voice, taking the bartender aback. "I-I'm afraid I can't do that. Is there any way I can just bring the money up here tomorrow?" Having his brother see him like this was the last thing in the world he wanted right now.

The bartender sighed. "I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid it's against policy to do so. I don't want to have to do this but, if you can't come up with the money, I'm going to have to contact the authorities and let you work this out with them."

Saphir opened his mouth to speak, however, nothing came out as he could couldn't think of any excuses to get out of paying. With this, the bartender picked up the receiver and brought his finger to turn the rotary numbers on the phone to dial. As he placed the receiver up to his ear, a voice spoke up in the space next him,

"I believe we can help with that."

Both Saphir and the bartender looked up to two women that neither of them had noticed come in. They were the women Demande and Saphir met there just days before, Yukiko and Natsumi.

Yukiko smiled at him deviously with satisfaction, "Looks like you'll be having that drink with us after all."

Left without any other options, Saphir reluctantly accepted her offer and joined them at their table.

* * *

 _Hours Later:_

Saphir, now completely intoxicated, walked through the deserted alley ways trying to not to stumble on the curbs and cracks in the street. He was finally able to sneak away from Yukiko and her friends after being stuck inside with them for hours into the early morning. She had kept a watchful eye on him all night and made sure he was unable to stray away too long and, if it not her, than her obnoxious friend who continuously asked about his brother all night even though he was last thing he wanted to talk or think about. The more alcohol they force fed him, the more his inhibitions seem to go down. He was so drunk that he was only able to recall bits and pieces of what had happened, but what he did remember made him feel so disgusted with himself he shuddered.

The drunken vertigo began to set in before he quickly stepped aside in one of the alleyways to vomit. Besides the slight ache he felt from the violent clenches of his stomach, it was a much needed relief. His shaky legs made it hard to keep balance as he then slid down the wall he was holding onto so that he could sit down. As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to return home but, was completely lost and had no idea where he was. Saphir knew he needed to get up and going before a cop spotted him but, his eyelids were so heavy that he moved further into the shadows as they fell shut. After what only felt like seconds later of calming solitude, he could hear footsteps coming towards him.

"I don't believe it…" a voice called out in what he thought was a dream.

He rustled in his sleep.

"It can't be…" it spoke again.

Consciousness was slowly returning to him.

"Master…Saphir-sama?"

Saphir opened his tired eyes. His vision was still very blurry and couldn't yet distinguish the figure standing over him.

A hand grabbed onto his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

"It is you, isn't it, Saphir?" it was a woman's voice.

After blinking several times, the image of the woman became clear. It was Berthier, the second youngest of the Spectre Sisters who wielded the power of dark water and ice, or at least had in the past. Although her clothing was different than the style she wore on Nemesis, she still wore her hair in the signature braid she always had.

' _This is not good. Of all the times to run into any of them, why did it have to be now_?' he thought in a panic.

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong person, we've never met before." Saphir tried to convince her.

She then bent down and was now eye level with him.

"Although your color has changed, there is no denying it, I would know you anywhere." She said.

Saphir turned to hide his face, but damage had already been done.

"How is this possible?" she asked in amazement.

Saphir hesitated with his answer.

"It's honestly too long of a story to tell on a cold evening in the dead of night." Saphir said as he looked around his surroundings for the first time with sober eyes.

She held out a hand to him, "You're right, let's get out of here, my shop's just a couple of streets down, we can talk there. The night air will help with the effects of the alcohol."

His eyes widened and she immediately answered, "I can smell it on your breath."

Hesitantly, he grabbed her hand and clumsily got to his feet.

They walked in silence together until they reached a building that was brightly colored with mannequins shown in the window display along with large photos of made up women.

' _Beauty Quartette'_ was above the door in large, black calligraphy.

Berthier unlocked the door and let Saphir in to the dark, empty store. She motioned for him to follow her to the room in the very back.

When she turned on the lights, his eyes stung in pain momentarily but, once adjusted, saw they were in a room with a desk that had a computer on top of it. He took a seat in one of the chairs that was available while she grabbed two cups of water from the water jug that sat in the corner. When she handed it to him, he gulped it down realizing for the first time how dehydrated he was. When he noticed that she was staring at him, intently waiting for him to start talking, he took longer sips from his water cup as a way to buy time to carefully think about what all he should say to her. When the loud ticking of the wall clock became unbearable to listen to anymore, he finally made eye contact with her causing her to straighten her posture and lean in further.

"So…this is your shop?" was all he could say.

"Yes, partially. My sister's and I created this cosmetics line when we first began living on Earth and opened this store not too long ago. Normally we rotate who operates it, sometimes having two of us here running it at a time. It was actually supposed to be Petz here tonight but, I had to cover for her because she was….." Berthier paused and tried to pick her words more carefully. "She was busy. The paperwork took me longer than I had anticipated which is why I was out so late but, that ended up being most fortunate indeed." Berthier smiled at him.

"I don't understand, how you could help me after the way the Black Moon treated you and your sisters." Saphir said.

"Now, now, none of that was of your doing and besides, you had already worked out everything with Petz that…last time we saw you." She looked at him awestruck again. "How is it possible that you're here? The sailor senshi told us they saw you…" it pained her too much to finish the sentence.

"it's not important." Saphir said before trying to rush to his feet so that he could avoid the answer by escaping. "Thank you for helping me, but-" he started to raise himself out of his seat before Berthier immediately stood up and interjected, "Please, it's important to _me_!"

Saphir could see the desperation in those blue eyes of hers and slowly lowered back onto his chair.

He sighed, looked into his empty water cup and then to her.

"Alright." He then handed her the cup. "You mind getting me some more? This is going to take a while."

She smiled in relief, taking the cup.

He began to tell Berthier all about the events that had occurred back on Nemesis when he and his brother had woken up from the comatose state they had been in, completely revived. Describing how the palace was abandoned and wasting away unlike the last time they had seen it, narrowly escaping to this time before the entire planet withered away to nothing.

"I can't believe it." Berthier gasped. "It was a miracle the portal was still able to work after all that time. What happened when you and Prince Demande arrived to Earth?"

He told her a modified version of what occurred, leaving out the encounter with those men, having possession of the black crystal, and the gems carrying the life essence of Rubeus and Esmeraude. Besides starting university, Saphir revealed very little about his and his brother's personal life.

Berthier hung on to every word of his story, letting the cup of water she had gotten for herself go untouched.

After he finished the story, Berthier let out a sigh and said, "I knew it."

"Knew what?" he asked not knowing what she was talking about.

"I must apologize, the first thought that crossed my mind after I saw you was that maybe you had abandoned us all this time, leaving Petz alone." Her eyes started to water.

"If only…"she continued. "If only you had come sooner."

The sinking feeling had returned that he had tried so hard to distract himself from.

"I know." He said.

"You know?" Berthier asked, suddenly confused.

"I saw her earlier, with that man."

Berthier was now the one trying to avoid eye contact with Saphir.

"I see." Was all she could say before she continued, "It wasn't easy for her, losing you. After that last time she saw you, Petz became merely a shell of her former self. We, as her sister's did our best to try and help her cope with the loss, but we knew she would never fully recover from it. Our business seemed to provide the best means of distraction from it all as we all worked tirelessly towards building our cosmetics line which eventually became very successful." She gleamed with pride when finishing.

"It was in those humble beginnings though, when we spent all those hours together planning, laughing, crying, getting to truly know each other for the first time that were the best for me. When the cosmetics line began to do incredibly well, bringing in revenue like you couldn't imagine, we were eventually able to open up more than one store which was great..except it began to take time away from each other. As time passed, Koan, Calaveras and myself had eventually found love of our own. The problem was that we all felt guilty for this since Petz lost the one she had loved and was still in mourning.

Saphir continued to listen.

"Eventually both Koan and I moved out of the apartment we all shared when we first came here, each finding our own place. Calveras, who was always the closest with Petz, wanted to stay with her and tried to convince her to move into a nicer place with how much money we were making. She refused to, however, always holding onto the possibility of you coming back to her someday. After many failed attempts at convincing her to move on, it seemed like she was never going to get over you and find happiness ever again. Our busy lives prevented us from having that same closeness we had before, which we knew weren't helping matters with her. That is until we held the launch party for the newest store we opened; the one we're sitting in right now. It was there when she met Keisuke."

His insides couldn't help but churn at the mention of the man's name.

"All of our boyfriends came out to support us among all the many customers. Calaveres's boyfriend brought a friend with him who was looking for a gift to surprise his mother for her birthday. We insisted for Petz to be the one to help him out with the gift, they hit it off, and it went from there. To be honest, it was in all of our intentions for this to happen yet were all surprised it had actually worked. As her and Keisuke started to develop a relationship, she finally seemed happy again, like how she was when she first came here. We were all just glad we finally had our sister back."

Saphir sat in silence staring down at his feet.

"I'm so sorry. I feel so responsible for this state you're in right now, if I had known there was a chance you'd still be alive, I…" tears started to fall down her cheeks.

Saphir avoided looking at her feeling bad for being responsible for her crying. The noise of a telephone reciver being lifted up, brought it back before she said, "Don't worry, this can all be made right again." Berthier began to dial a phone number.

Before she was able to complete the call, Saphir grabbed the receiver away from her and placed it back down.

She looked at him in shock. "Why did you that?"

"I had no idea she was in such pain because of me."

"But you're here now, everything is going to be okay now for both of you. Nature can finally take it's course." She pleaded with him.

"No, I can't guarantee that." He thought of the possible outcomes for what would happen to him if Sailor Moon or her guardians ever found out about them harboring the Jakokusuishou. If Petz were to have to go through what she went through all over again, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, as her happiness was the most important thing to him, even if it was at the cost of his own.

"What do you mean?" she asked with suspicion.

"I mean that I need your word that you will keep our meeting a secret for the time being."

She looked back at him in bewilderment.

"Please, just trust me on this. It's what I think is best for now." He said with a sullen expression.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

He simply nodded. "I'm sure."

Tears started to pour down once again, "If only you had come just three months sooner. Before the night of that party."

A sigh let out as his heart sank even further. "Three months, huh."

That was around the time he and his brother had arrived on Earth. If only he would've gone to see her immediately, it would be _him_ taking her on that date tonight.

"It's getting pretty late, I must be getting back now while I'm starting to feel better." Saphir then said.

"Let me walk you back so I can be sure you made it home safely." She replied.

"No." he said flatly. His brother could be waiting for him to come home and couldn't risk the chance of them being spotted together. Besides, he didn't think it'd be wise to let Berthier know where he lived.

"Well, then how about walking me to my place to make sure I get home safely at least? It's only a couple of blocks away and it'll give us a little more time to chat before we part ways." She smiled.

"Alright." Saphir smiled back to her for the first time.

Berthier checked the front entrance to make sure she had locked it correctly before she led him in the direction of her home.

They walked down the street in an awkward silence at first.

"It's funny." Berthier giggled. "I think this is the first time we've spoken more than two words to each other, yet I feel such a kinship to you since that day you came to us. "

"I know what you mean." Saphir replied. "We're all that's left of our planet, our clan. You and your sisters made me realize in those last hours of my life, that I had a family aside from my brother. If only the lives we had back then hadn't blinded us to that."

Berthier's expression softened at the mention of his brother with her cheeks gaining a rosy color.

"How is Prince Demande dealing with it all? I can imagine it must have been very difficult, in fact, the most difficult to leave his former life behind."

Saphir had almost forgotten what drove him out into the night in the first place and that he was still mad at his brother. If Berthier finds out that there is a connection with Sailor moon's civilian form and Prince Demande's disguised self then she might get suspicious of his motives and reveal his identity to the senshi. He needed to reveal as little as possible about him.

"It's been an adjustment for both of us but, were just trying to live quiet lives now." he replied.

"I'm glad for both of you. It's a blessing that we were all granted this second chance. The Jakoquishisou was such an evil and dangerous thing and I'm glad that both it and Wiseman are gone forever."

Saphir suddenly stopped walking, "Wiseman. He was able to be defeated then?"

"You mean you still don't know? Sailor Moon was able to revert Black Lady back into Chibi-Usa, you know, the Rabbit, and combined the power of their Guizuishou's to defeat the Death Phantom. Even more threats have troubled Earth's safety since then but, Sailor Moon has been able to defeat them all and grows stronger each time; she is invincible. It's thanks to her that we can live normal, happy lives."

Even though it was assumed that Wiseman was dead and gone, it was still a weight off his shoulders to finally have confirmation on it.

"Oh, we're here now." Berthier announced.

They stopped in front of an apartment building that Saphir bet carried much more expensive and spacious apartments than the one they lived in. They both lingered in front of the entrance, unable to come up with the last words to say to one another.

"Thank you for helping me earlier, I really mean it. If you hadn't of come along, this night would have probably taken a turn for the worse for me." Saphir said.

"Is this really what you want?" she asked.

"It's not what's best for me, but what's best for Petz." He replied.

"Will we ever see you again?" she asked with a somber tone.

"Perhaps. Who knows, one day you might just have a customer that bears a familiar face come into your shop in need of a new cologne" He smiled.

Berthier giggled, "I hope that day will come soon."

She bid him a farewell and goodnight before walking inside, leaving Saphir to make the long, dreadful walk home.

* * *

 _30 minutes later:_

It was a quarter of 3 when Saphir quietly walked back inside their apartment. He was hoping that he'd be able to go straight into his bedroom without running into Demande, however, the living room that was lit with a single lamp said otherwise. Demande had fallen asleep on the couch, still wearing his day clothes and in sitting position. The creaking of the door jerked him awake, bringing his tired eyes slowly onto Saphir.

"Brother, you're home, I'm so glad." Demande leapt to his feet and turned on the main light.

"I'm so sorry about everything brother, I promise to set everything right. If you want me to, I'll quit the librarian job and never see her again. We'll move and go somewhere else, where we can be sure to never be found out by any of them." Demande belted out sounding rehearsed.

But without acknowledging him in return, Saphir simpley removed his jacket and placed it on the coat rack next to the front door.

Demande moved even closer towards him and made another attempt of trying to get a response from his clearly agitated brother.

"We could go to Okinawa and live close to the ocean which is supposedly the exact same color as the sky with white, sanded beaches unlike anything we've ever seen."

Saphir continued to ignore him.

"No, wait, we could go to Europe, I've read many things about it in the geography books in the library. We'll be thousands of miles away from here, and I wouldn't even be against you bringing Petz with us-"

Saphir finally turn to face him, giving him a look that silenced him. The pathetic attempts on trying to win back his forgiveness was making him nauseous again. "Not tonight. Right now I need to be alone and think about things, so I ask that you not press further more on this matter until I'm ready discuss it."

With the main light turned on and Saphir's removal of his jacket, Demande couldn't help but notice the red blotches that were covering Saphir's neck causing him to look alarmed.

Saphir realized what he was looking at and covered them with his hand ashamed at what he must be thinking. His now reddened face, looked to the ground before he walked to his room without saying another word as he calmly shut the door behind him.

Demande stood there with his mouth still halfway open trying to contemplate what he just saw. Those marks...what did he do while he was out there? Recalling the look of humiliation in his brother's face that he had never seen before, he decided that it'd be better for him not to ask him about it as he was sure Saphir wouldn't want him to know. It would be the best thing to just follow Saphir's terms and as an extra precaution, avoid seeking out Usagi at school for a while. Hopefully with this, he'd be able to win back his brother's trust again.

The clock chimed from across the room reminding him of the few hours left for him to rest before he had to be at work, after he had been out searching for Saphir all night.

' _This is going to be the longest day of my life'_ he groaned.


	11. Chapter 10-Singled Out

Usagi immediately shut herself in her room, when she had arrived home that evening. Luna thought her behavior was odd for the brief moment she passed her, but it wasn't until Usagi declined Ikuko-mama's summons for dinner in order to "finish homework" is when she began to suspect that something was terribly wrong. Usagi rarely ever turned down a meal, and most certainly wouldn't pass up her mother's delicious pork buns for schoolwork.

"Usagi, is everything okay?" Luna asked from outside the closed door.

"Everything's fine, I'm just…busy right now." She replied in a choked voice.

"I can tell you're upset about something, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, just leave me alone!" Usagi said raising her voice.

"I only want to help, please open the door!" Luna pleaded.

Luna couldn't remember the last time Usagi had been this upset. Perhaps during that time when her and Mamoru had broken up. She would often find Usagi up late at night stuffing herself into a crying stupor in those days. It was a quite a while ago, though. Could this have something to do with Mamoru?

"Usagi, please?" Luna asked again in a much calmer voice.

Usagi finally opened the door, picked Luna up, and sat both of them on top of her bed where she cradled Luna in her arms as a child would a stuffed animal. Luna's purr in response to Usagi's soft scratches behind her ear were comforting to hear and caused the tears to dry up once more.

"I made a fool of myself earlier." She choked out.

"What happened?" the black feline asked.

Now calm and coherent, Usagi told her of the misunderstanding that had happened just hours before, leaving out the details she was not ready yet to reveal such as not having been in contact with Mamoru this entire time and Satoshi's brother's resemblance to Saphir, for fear it would cause an unwanted lecture.

Luna could only look up at her pityingly, "I know it must have been a disappointment for that man not to have actually been Mamoru, but he will come back Usagi. What is best right now is to continue the progress you've been making in your education."

"It's just that without Mamo-chan with me by my side, it's frustrating getting through everything that's been going on around here lately. I mean, we're nowhere nearer finding out who the new enemies are and their motives any more than when they first appeared months ago." Usagi said.

"You see, this is what I'm talking about. I've never seen you so devoted to your duties before, it's like a sudden growth has occurred in you." Luna gleamed.

As miserable as she was feeling, Usagi couldn't help but let a little smile escape and started to feel her spirits lift a little.

"Have I really changed that much from that first day you met me?"

Luna returned her smile and said, "Well I wouldn't say you're _that_ different, I mean, I still have to practically drag you out of bed every morning even though you're many times my weight, especially with the way you tend to over eat. Then, there's also the fact that I'm at the mercy of your frequent klutz attacks, whether it's getting stepped on, rolled on top on the bed sometimes while I'm trying to sleep or-"

"Luna!" Usagi called out through gritted teeth, changing her soft pats on the head into that of a noogie.

"But aside from those things, the obstacles you have faced thus far have matured you in a way to where I am no longer worried about your leadership skills because you have proven yourself to be worthy of holding the title of Sailor Moon and that of Princess Serenity. I suppose I haven't told you that before, have I?" Luna confessed.

"No, you haven't." she pouted.

"I forget sometimes that you're still so young, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders while still trying to be a normal, teenage girl of the Earth. It's a shame that whether it be in this life or in your previous one in the Silver Millennium, that's all you seem to have ever wanted yet fate would have it otherwise." Luna said.

Usagi pulled Luna into her and gave her another hug.

"Thank you Luna." Usagi said before letting out a yawn. "I think I'd like to get some rest now."

"Of course. It's probably good you get to bed early for a change." Luna replied.

"If any of the girls try to reach me on the communicator, let them know I'll just see them at school." She told her.

"Alright. Goodnight Usagi." Luna said giving her a lick on the cheek before jumping off her lap and leaving the bedroom.

Her eyes were still red and swollen, feeling heavy as she rested still against the bedframe. However, she was really using the excuse of sleep as a means of escaping any further communication with anyone else for the rest of the night. With all that she had to think about, sleep was impossible at this point.

As she tossed and turned, she couldn't help but feel frustration at Mamoru, almost anger. Why was he being so selfish and letting her go crazy like this? With how bad she was wanting to see him again, it was no wonder she mistook that man for him.

It was then, when Satoshi-san's brother's shifted the focus of her thoughts causing her stomach suddenly drop. His resemblance to Saphir was so uncanny that…but it was impossible.

His eyes, though. They had that same sadness Saphir's had.

No, he is dead. Saphir and Prince Demande are both dead…aren't they? It was the first time she ever really considered Ami's suspicions about Satoshi-san. As much as she wanted to keep this bit of information to herself, it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the senshi to withhold something like this, even though she knew they would discourage her from having anything more to do with him.

No matter how much she tried to rationalize it in her mind, it was all just too coincidental. Two brother's suddenly move here who happen to look almost identical to the two brother's that were their former enemies who lived one thousand years in the future but died in the present.

Wracking her brain with all this information while going through all the explanations and theories caused her to eventually tire and drift off to sleep.

* * *

Just as dawn approached, Usagi awoke and sat up in a cold sweat with her heart racing and unfamiliar of her surroundings. The nightmare of what had happened in Crystal Tokyo had come back for the first time in weeks, more terrifying than ever as Tuxedo Mask was completely absent from the part where he was supposed to rescue her at the end. But that wasn't the part that disturbed her. Prince Demande was different then how she remembered him. As he edged closer and closer to her on the bed, the more his features began to twist into something that was not human. He stopped when his face was but a few inches away from hers with his soulless eyes peering into hers as a distorted smiled began to form. It was then, when she finally broke out of the dream.

Some time passed before she finally looked at her clock that illuminated 6:15 on it's face and began to lay back down when the initial effects of the dream wore off. The stress from the day before that had to do with Satoshi-san, who bared Prince Demande's likeness, who also happened to be the last person she thought of before falling sleep must've caused such a nightmare. She brushed the dream off and eventually drifted back into sleep.

* * *

Usagi checked her watch as she left her house for school that morning. It was only 8:15 which is usually the time she would be first waking up. By leaving earlier, she could avoid Ami and Naru's invite to walk to school together since she wasn't ready to discuss what happened yet. This was also a good way to avoid the crowd that usually gathered in the morning to view the Three Lights.

As she approached Juuban High School, it was as she guessed. There were only a few clusters of students scattered around the entrance gate that had nowhere near the amount that was usually there by the time she arrived. When she wasn't late that is.

Unfortunately, hanging right near the front entrance to the school were the clique of girls from the Three Lights fan club that were always waiting outside of Usagi's homeroom. Dread filled her as she tried to walk past them without being noticed, which she thought worked at first because they all seemed to be in deep conversation and not paying any attention to her.

When none of them had turned in her direction, she let out a sigh of relief thinking she had succeeded and continued on. Until that is, she heard one of them say in a purposely heightened voice:

"First she hangs all over Seiya, then tries to hog all the attention of Satoshi-san to herself, and now, she has the nerve to throw herself into the arms of his brother. How shameless!"

"I know! Good thing he had the sense to turn her down." One girl responded.

"Sent her away in tears, I heard." Another girl added.

"How embarrassing!"

Usagi could feel their stares stabbing into her back like daggers, but she thought it best to appear unfazed and enter the school avoiding the sudden heat rising in her cheeks. As she walked passed students hanging out by their lockers, she couldn't help but notice them whispering and looking towards her direction. Some had looks of pity while others, mainly those in the fanclub, were giggling and looking pleased with themselves.

It was apparent that what had happened yesterday was spreading around the school already. Feeling anxious, she looked over to the library only to see it's doors shut. She guessed Satoshi-san wasn't there yet.

She continued down the hallway, trying to ignoring all the stares getting shot at her from all directions.

When she arrive at the base of the stairs that led up to her homeroom, she was met with the sympathetic gazes of her friends who seemed to be waiting for her.

"Hey Usagi." They each said, acting as normal as possible.

"You don't have pretend that something isn't going on around here. I know people are talking about me." Usagi told them.

"Let them talk." Minako said.

"We know you better than that." Makoto followed.

"What is it?" she looked to each of three girls for an answer. Makoto, Minako and Ami looked at each other nervously.

"The Three Lights should be arriving any moment, we'd better head to class before it starts getting crowded around here." Ami said to Usagi.

"Ami…"

"We'll have the privacy there to fill you in on what's being said. You can tell us what really happened at lunch since I'm sure it'll be a lengthier story then what we have to tell you. I just thought you should be prepared for…the day ahead." Ami said.

"It's not too bad, just mindless gossip is all." Minako interjected to try and lighten the mood.

"We'll be there for you every step of the way if anyone tries to mess with you." Makoto said.

As all three girls turned towards the stairs, Usagi glanced back one last time at the library whose doors were still shut.

' _This is going to be the longest day of my life."_ She thought before following her friends toward homeroom.

* * *

Meanwhile:

In the Nurse's Office, Demande was getting his wounds tended to that were caused by Saphir's violent outburst as he didn't have the time to use the _Jakokusuishou_ to heal himself before he was to arrive at the school.

"So, what did you say happened to you again?" Miss Kurogane asked as she watched the nurse wrap the bandages around his shoulder.

He replied, "I told you, I slipped backwards in the kitchen this morning. The floor was wet." In an exacerbated tone, he then asked. "Answer me again why you have to be in here while she's doing this?" He was completely shirtless and embarrassed to be looking so helpless.

"Because I'm the one who found you on the verge of passing out in the parking lot with blood staining the back of that blonde head of yours. I don't know why you won't just go to a hospital."

"No, I'm alright, really. Once Nurse Takeuchi fixes me up I'll be good as new." He said before wincing at her rubbing an alcohol swab to the wound on the back of his head.

"I really would reconsider." Takeuchi spoke up. "From the severity of these wounds, I would've guessed you were hit by a car rather than it being a household accident. But, I guess it's your decision in the end."

"And I decide not to go." He immediately retorted. "If I just lay off the heavy lifting for the next few days, it should be fine." He said.

Both women looked to each other flabbergasted with his reasoning.

* * *

Later that day:

The first four class periods of the day weren't much different than when she had first walked into the school. The only time the stares and the snickering lessened was during the teacher's lecturing which gave her a newfound appreciation in the mandatory silence her school lessons provided.

Lunch was approaching finally, and she couldn't be more thrilled to get a solid hour away from all the prying eyes of her classmates and just spend it in the company of her friends.

The lesson had ended and the students were able to chat amongst each other as they waited their last few minutes before their lunch hour began. Unbeknownst to any of them, the hall monitor walked in and dropped off a message to their instructor.

"Excuse me, can I have your attention?" he announced to the class as the hall monitor exited the classroom.

"I've just been informed that Mr. Satoshi is in need of a student volunteer later in the day and-"

Almost all of the girls in the class immediately raised their hands.

"It appears he has some sort of shoulder injury and will need someone to put away the books that have been checked-in back on the bookshelves." Looking around the classroom, the girls continued to keep their hands raised.

"Some of the books are quite heavy, so he specifically requested that we send one of our _male_ students." He announced in exasperation clearing his throat at the end.

Groans of disappointment could be heard as all the hands lowered. Usagi sat stiffly upright and knew better than to raise her hand as most of the class looked at her expectedly to do so.

"Whoever assists Mr. Satoshi will be pulled out of the last period of the day, allowing exemption from today's English vocabulary quiz. " He added.

At the prospect of this, everyone's hand raised in the air aside from the members of the Three Lights.

"Hmph!" Seiya let off a grunt from behind Usagi.

Usagi became concerned and wondered about Satoshi-san's injury. ' _What happened? He was perfectly fine yesterday_?'

It was a ridiculous notion, but she couldn't help and feel uneasy as if the causation of his sudden injury had something to do with her.

* * *

The four girls spent their lunch period outside away from the rest of the students in order for them to have the adequate privacy for Usagi to tell them what all had happened the day before, even revealing the details of Satoshi's brother's resemblance Saphir, their former enemy.

"This is the longest you and Mamoru-san have spent away from each other so it's only natural that your desire to see him may make you see his face on other men, it's nothing to feel ashamed of." Ami said.

"I knew those horrible things I was hearing from those upperclassmen were bogus." Makoto said cooly.

"Makoto." Minako gave her a wide-eyed look as if to hush her.

"Oh." Makoto covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-."

"It's okay, I know it'll die down soon enough." Usagi said.

Ami sighed, "Let's get back to the other part of this story. Usagi, I know that you want to trust this Mr. Satoshi, but after seeing his brother who also resembles another member of the Black Moon Clan, can you honestly say that you're not even just the tiniest bit suspicious?"

"I..I don't know." Usagi answered. "Having seen both of them die before my very eyes, makes it seem just too incredible for it to be true."

"That's very true, Ami. People can't come back from the dead, even you would have to agree with that." Makoto said with a slight chuckle.

After a few minutes of silence Usagi responded to Makoto, "But we did."

She then clasped her fingers around her brooch containing the strongest source of power in the entire universe, capable of destroying anything containing negative forces, healing the innocent of those possessed by those dark forces and reincarnating those who have died.

* * *

Demande at that time happened to be on his lunch break as well, having his meal outside instead of the faculty room for a change since the weather was particularly nice that day. He was accompanied by Miss Kurogane, who was helping him carry his things and another teacher he was becoming more acquainted with as they chatted amongst each other walking towards the picnic table. Demande wasn't really adding anything to the conversation being had, but was mainly nodding along to everything they were saying, not having the energy to do much talking after the long night he had.

In the distance, he could see Usagi and her friends sitting under a tree, eating their lunches. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that they were talking about him. At that very moment, Usagi looked over in his direction, locking eyes with him for the first time since that emotional moment they had between each other the day before. Seconds later, she broke eye contact and looked away as if she never saw him to begin with.

He didn't know if he was imagining things but it seemed almost as if she was trying to avoid him. However, he must not think about her right now. No, he must concentrate on gaining his brother's trust back and by doing that, he must not actively seek out Usagi for the time being. No matter how hard it may pain him to do so.

* * *

1 week later:

Days had passed since the incident and still, things had not gotten better for either Usagi or Demande. Saphir still refused to speak to his brother and in those rare moments of the day where they would cross paths in their home, he pretended as if Demande was practically nonexistent. His and Saphir's relationship had never been so strained before and it felt as if he was living with a stranger rather than his own brother which made things uncomfortable for both them. On top of that, Usagi had stopped coming by the library altogether, he hadn't even seen her in the hallways anymore.

He was like a man who had lost of his allies and had never truly felt so alone in this world that was still so unfamiliar to him.

On the other hand, Usagi was facing the wrath of the Three Lights fan club by receiving subtle harassments every time she was separated from her friends outside of the classroom. The stares and comments made towards her direction had only increased even though she had stopped having any contact with Mr. Satoshi-san and had avoided going into the library for that particular reason. But she found that it wasn't easy. In fact, she had come to realize how much she had depended on his company once all of her friends went off to their club activities and was left to herself to face all the ugly stares alone.

She was so lost in her thoughts as she sat in her last class, that the bell going off to dismiss the students for day hadn't even reached her line of hearing.

What brought her out of her thoughts was a tap on the shoulder she had received from behind.

"Hey can I talk to you for a sec?" Seiya asked her.

"Yeah, of course." Usagi replied half dazed, just realizing that most of the classroom was empty.

"I ran into your friend Minako yesterday as I caught her trying to spy on our band practice and she told me the truth of what had happened with you and that librarian's brother that started these rumors. And…Well…. I hate to admit that I sort of believed them myself at first so, I just wanted to say sorry for giving you the silent treatment these past few days." He told her.

Usagi tilted her head and only continued to stare at him.

"You've been giving me the silent treatment?" she said.

Seiya nearly fell out of his chair when he heard this.

"You mean you didn't-"

"But I-"

"I thought that-"

Seiya then began to laugh hysterically over his own loss for words.

"Odango, you really are something, you know that?" He said as he continued to laugh.

Usagi frowned, "I do not get you sometimes."

As Seiya's laughter died down, he then said, "Well now that, that's straightened out, about our English project. Since the Three Lights performance for the musical was this past weekend, it means I no longer have to attend _those_ rehearsals. Unfortunately, we're performing a joint concert this coming weekend so, I'll have to attend rehearsals for that for the rest of the week. After the concert though, my schedule will be much more flexible for us to start writing the report and I figured by then, we'll both have read the book, right?"

Usagi looked troubled as she heard this.

"You mean…I missed the musical?" She asked with her eyes enlarging.

"Yeah..why? Did you want to see my performance that badly?" he asked as his expression brightened.

"Your choreographer, Akane-san, was she there?"

"She was front row in the audience and even came up on stage for a standing ovation. She's fully recovered now." He answered.

Tears welled up in her eyes, "I wanted to be able to see Akane-san's vision come to life."

That's the last time she'll listen to Luna about using her day off to catch up on homework.

"I'll still take that as you wanted to see me perform." He then mumbled, "Well, you can come see our concert this weekend. I mean, I was kind of hoping you would anyways."

Usagi then perked up, "You have a ticket?!"

"Well..no. In fact last I checked, the show was almost completely sold out but I'm sure there are some still floating around out there." Seiya told her.

Usagi's expression went back to that of disappointment.

Just at that moment, Yaten poked his head through the classroom door staring at Seiya with an impatient look motioning to the watch on his wrist. He merely brushed him off, indicating he was about to follow him.

"If you try hard enough, I'm sure you'll be able to get ahold of a ticket. In fact, I like it better this way. It'll just show that if I see you there, I'll know it's because you went to great lengths to try and see your favorite Three Lights member." He said cheerfully.

"Maybe I'll just see you when we work on our book report." Usagi replied coldly.

Seiya got up from his seat and as he passed by her desk, flashed her his most dazzling smile as he replied, "Alright then, it's a date."

"No, it's not. Se-Seiya!" she called out.

"Only a couple of more days to find a ticket, Odango. You better get at it!" He called back to her as he disappeared through the door frame.

She rolled her eyes then preceded to laugh, as it was probably the first time she had cracked a smile in days. It quickly faded, however, when she remembered what would be waiting for her outside homeroom.

Fortunately, luck was on her side that day when the small clique of girls that usually hung around in the halls were absent for once. Usagi sighed in relief and began to count some of the last bit of pocket money inside her coin purse. She decided to grab a drink from one of the vending machines on her way out.

* * *

 _Meanwhile:_

"Excuse me, Mr. Satoshi-san sir, I've just finished putting away the last of the books that were checked-in today." Said the voice of Gurio Umino.

"Great, that'll do for today." Demande replied uninterestedly as he was filling out paperwork.

"I kind of have to wait around until my girlfriend gets out of Drama Club so, if there's anything else you need assistance with, I can help out."

Demande looked up at him and then around the library.

"I guess I can have you work the front counter for me. Those girls look like they're about to check out soon." He motioned to a group of five senior girls that were chatting more so than reading the books opened in front of them.

"Yes sir!" Umino enthusiastically went over to the counter.

This boy would be the last person he would have chosen for any kind of manual labor, however, he guessed his teacher's reasoning was that since he is the number 3 student in the school and is already fluent in English, missing a week's worth of that particular class wouldn't affect his grades. He was quite odd and slightly annoying at times but, he always gave his best effort to help with whatever he needed as he "recovered from his injuries" that had actually already healed that first night once he got ahold of the black crystal. Miss Kurogane and the nurse would find it strange, having seen the severity of his injuries, if he had recovered that quickly so he had to pretend for the week that he still needed assistance.

The group of girls began to grab all of their belongings appearing to head out since club activities were about to begin. Before they had even made their way over to the front counter, Umino walked up to them offering to carry their books for them. None of them answered and instead walked right past him, with the leader of the group flipping her long olive-green colored hair behind her. With his hands still held out in front of him, Umino turned his head and watched as they walked over instead to Mr. Satoshi's desk.

Demande hadn't heard them walk up and was taken aback when he looked up at the group of girls standing in front of him suddenly.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Satoshi-san!" spoke the girl with the olive-green hair. "I heard you had injured your shoulder, are you feeling better now?"

He replied, "Oh, yes I am. Thank you miss-?"

"Sonoko Ijuuin, year 3, captain of the Juuban High Softball Team." She said with a smile.

"Ah, I see." He nodded before turning back to his paperwork.

"I hope you can make it out to one of our games when the season starts. Since I've taken over as captain, we've been the reigning champions so it should be quite entertaining." Sonoko cheerfully said.

"Oh yes, Sonoko, you're batting skills are the best in the district." One of her friends said.

"And when you're on the pitcher's mount, there's no stopping your excellent curve ball." Another said in agreement.

Demande gave a forced smile back to them and said, "I'll see what I can do." Before turning back to his paperwork once again.

When he felt the five sets of eyes continue to watch him, he looked back up and asked, "Anything else I can do you for?"

"Yes, I have this I wanted to check out." Sonoko held a book up.

"Alright, I actually have Umino over there checking out right now." He replied, gesturing towards him.

She looked over at Umino pretending to see him for the first time and said, "Oh, I didn't know. Well I guess since I'm already over here, you don't mind, do you?"

"I guess not." He took the book and began to log it in.

"So…that big concert is this weekend. You plan on going?" she asked.

"I didn't know about it, who's playing?"

"The Three Lights." She said excitedly. "We've had our tickets for weeks."

Demande let out a small chuckle, "No, I don't think you'll be seeing _me_ there."

"I see." She said in disappointment.

He handed her the book and wished them all a good day before they walked out and on to their clubs.

As he was about to walk back over to his desk, Umino said in a low voice, "I don't like those girls."

"Why's that?" Demande asked.

Unaware that he was able to hear him, Umino turned startled and replied, "Oh..um, yeah it's nothing, they've just been giving my friend, Usagi, a hard time after that misunderstanding with your brother. Talking bad about her and such."

Now that he mentioned it, he did overhear the group of girls referring to someone described as "the monkey girl with the stupid hairdo" over and over. But to be fair, that could've been anyone.

"I don't understand." Demande said.

"People who witnessed what happened made it out to be that her and your brother had some sort of lover's quarrel, or at least that's one of the versions going around." Umino said.

"But that's not what happened."

"I know it's not. My girlfriend's her best friend and explained the whole story. Besides, I've known Usagi for years and wouldn't ever believe the nonsense they're saying." Umino said, crossing his arms.

Just then something dawned on him.

"You wouldn't be the one dating Naru Osaka, would you?" Demande asked.

Umino smiled and nodded.

"That's my Naru-chan." He said with pride as his cheeks blushed.

Demande brought up a mental picture of them standing next to each other hand in hand and thought they could possibly be the oddest couple he could ever think of. But at the same time, he couldn't help and think ' _Good for him.'_

So, all this could be the reason why Usagi hasn't been coming around lately.

"Hey Umino, can you run the desk while I go grab a drink from the vending machine. You've been a real help to me today so would you like something as well?" he asked the round spectacled boy.

"Thank you, I'll take a juice." He replied.

* * *

The hallways were now empty and quiet except for the echoing of Demande's footsteps. When he turned the corner, he found that he was not completely alone as Usagi stood in front of the very vending machine he needed to use.

"Hmm." Usagi said as she browsed her options.

"Green tea, F-17." She called out as she pressed the buttons.

She smiled contently as she patiently waited for her drink to land in the bin. The machine began to process her request until all the noises ceased suddenly.

"Hmm?" she tilted her head, still waiting for the drink to drop.

Moments pass with nothing still, indicating that her drink is indeed stuck.

"Oh no!"

She frantically started to press the cancel button on the machine.

"That was the last of my allowance, you've got to be kidding me!" Usagi called out before shaking the machine to try and get the drink unstuck.

Demande continued to watch her many failed attempts and couldn't help but laugh to himself at the funny sight he was seeing.

"Give me my green tea you damn thing!" she said as she lifted her leg and pressed the bottom of her foot to the machine in order to kick it, hoping it would shake the drink free.

When loud thumping noises came out instead, a startled Usagi jumped backward and became so entangled with her own feet that she began to fall, anticipating an ugly landing. She was surprised that instead, someone caught her before hitting the floor.

She looked back to see who the person was and gasped, "Satoshi-san!"

* * *

 _Author's Note-_ This is chapter is what I like to call the "Filler chapter" and isn't too exciting but, was needed to transition into the more interesting parts. Thanks to those still showing this story some love! I intend to continue it and am happy to do so, although with work and life, it's difficult to upload a new chapter as often as I'd like, but I'll try and do the best I can.


	12. Chapter 11-A Tragic Ending

"Satoshi-san!" Usagi gasped, surprised someone was there to catch her fall.

He lifted her back onto her feet.

"Sorry, it looked like you needed some help." He said calmly.

He walked passed her to the soda machine, balled one of his fists, and gave it a swift bang before the drink finally dropped into the bin. He picked it up and handed it to her before browsing through the different selections on the machine trying to appear indifferent about her presence next to him.

"Th-thank you." She said to him.

He replied with only a smile to her before turning back to the vending machine.

There was an awkward tension between the two of them that was never there before. Even on the first day they met with that disastrous encounter, they never felt more like strangers to each other.

"I hear you had some sort of injury, are you feeling any better?" Was all Usagi could think up to strike up a conversation.

"Oh yes, much better." Demande replied while pressing one of the buttons.

"And everything is alright between you..and your brother?" She asked with a hint of nervousness.

The first drink fell into the bin with a loud thump.

He looked back to her with a bewildered expression momentarily before immediately returning to his stoic demeanor, for she was watching him closely.

"Why yes, of course everything's fine between us. What makes you ask that?"

"I don't know. I just had the feeling that something _more_ was going on that day and…" she trailed off but was at a loss for words to say as he continued to eye her.

"Never mind, forget I said anything." She said waving it off.

He looked back to the machine again, selecting a juice for Umino.

"How about you?" he asked. "Any word from your boyfriend?"

"No. I still haven't heard from him." Usagi replied in a defeated tone.

Again, the drink landed with another loud thump.

A devious grin spread on Demande's lips.

"That's a shame." He said while retrieving the two drinks from the bin.

He turned back to her while trying to appear concerned and hide the absolute delight he was feeling inside upon hearing that.

"About the other day. I hope I didn't offend you in any sort of way, I was just trying to help, but I'm afraid I'm not particularly good at these things so-"

"No, not at all!" she interrupted. "I admit that it is hard to face you after embarrassing myself like that, but I've just been dealing with some stuff here recently."

She started to tense the grip of her drink.

"You shouldn't let them push you around, you know?" He told her.

Usagi jerked her head up towards him.

"What?"

"I hate seeing a girl who used to be so cheerful and full of energy, allow herself to become so miserable and paranoid. All for a few shallow girls that have nothing better to do than to obsess over a sub-par singing group and spread lies around when they feel like it."

"I'm not letting them push me around, I'm just not used to dealing with this kind of confrontation." Usagi replied defensively.

"But you are. I can see it by the defeated look on your face. And by the way you nervously looked over your shoulder when I came up to you just now. You're giving them exactly what they want." He said.

She didn't respond.

"You're a strong girl that has probably faced problems much worse than this. What happens beyond high school will all be a distant memory and you'll go on to do extraordinary things that they could only ever dream of." He continued.

She raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously.

"How could you possibly know something like that?" she asked.

His resemblance to Prince Demande was never so apparent and in the forefront of her mind as it was now. Could it be possible that he and this man were one in the same?

He shrugged and gave a nervous chuckle. "I don't. But, isn't that the sort of thing you're supposed to say to someone whose feeling down? I told you that I'm not good at this."

Before she was able to respond, she became distracted when she noticed he was holding a drink in each hand.

"Are both of those for you?" she asked, pointing to each one.

He looked to his hands, almost forgetting why he was there in the first place. "Oh, right. I've got my student assistant with me in the library right now. I believe he's a friend of yours, Umino?"

Usagi giggled and said sarcastically, "Oh yeah, that's right. I'm sure _he's_ been great company to have."

"He has..in his own unconventional way." Demande said returning her laughter. "He's waiting around right now until Miss Osaka gets out of drama club, so it's just me and him in the library. We're beginning to run out of things to talk about so if you wanted to stop by for a bit, I promise you won't be met with a pack of pointing and jeering females."

She had reservations and thought about what Ami or the rest of her friends would say if they knew she was with him after admitting that she was developing her own suspicions. No doubt they would think it irresponsible and reckless.

"I'm not sure I should.." she replied.

"It's your choice, I understand. I should be getting back now so, take care, Miss Tsukino." He said politely before turning to walk away from her.

The way he said her name like that, so detached, so formal, it made her feel a tinge of guilt. The truth was that she did want to go with him and _had_ been missing his company this past week more so than she could have ever imagined. In fact, standing there with him now, made the possibility of him being their former enemy insignificant compared to the loneliness she had been feeling all this time.

"Wait!" She called out to before hurrying her step to catch up with him.

"Change of plans?" he asked.

"Sort of" she said as she looked up to him with a content smile.

The gesture was enough to make him feel a sort of happiness that he hadn't felt in quite some time.

As they walked together down the hall and towards the library, it was quiet between them at first until Usagi said to him out of the blue, "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked.

"You were right about what you said back there and I appreciate you telling me the truth. I just wish I were stronger sometimes and not let what other people say affect me so much." She sighed.

"You already _are_ a strong person, but you just also happen to be very kind and empathetic to the point where sometimes you shortchange yourself for the sake of others."

"I suppose." She said glumly.

When they entered the library, Umino stood diligently in place at the front desk and gleamed when he saw Usagi walk into the room.

"Hi, Usagi!" he called out.

"Hey, Umino." She smiled.

Demande handed him his juice and looked up at the clock.

"Looks like it won't be much longer until club activities let out." He commented.

"Good, the moment I've been waiting for is almost here." Umino squealed anxiously.

"What do you mean?" Usagi asked.

"Well, I've been keeping this secret for a while because I wanted to catch her by surprise when I give her…"

As he rummaged through his pocket, Usagi and Demade looked at each other, then curiously back to Umino perplexed on what he would pull out.

"These!" he held out two strips of paper in front of them.

"Two tickets to the Fantastic International Music Festival featuring the Three Lights who will be performing alongside Mugen Academy's Michiru Kaioh!" Umino exclaimed while holding the tickets in one hand while signaling a 'V' with his other.

Usagi's mouth dropped open.

"Did I also mention that they're third row seats?" he added.

Usagi ripped the tickets from his hand to examine them closer.

"C-Careful!" Umino called out.

"I don't believe this! How were you able to get tickets, and with such good seats!?" She asked astonished.

"I called in to the radio station that was giving them out last week. I was surprised that the first time I attempted to call, I managed to get through the line. I can't wait to see Naru's cute face light up when I get down on one knee and present them to her in front of everyone." He said while gradually turning a shade of red.

Usagi pouted and handed him back the tickets. Her, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minkao tried every night that week calling the radio station but, the line was busy every single time and none of them were successful in getting through.

Demande couldn't help but feel bitter in the fact that Usagi wanted to see Three Lights that badly, not necessarily the Three Lights but that obnoxious, Seiya. He wasn't sure if that's what her exact reasoning was, but even just thinking about it began to irritate him so he grabbed his drink and took a huge swig from it, trying to drown out the rest of their conversation as much as he could.

"Naru-chan will _have_ to forgive me now." Umino continued on to say to Usagi.

"I can never keep up with what you guy's bicker about but, I've got to ask, what was it about this time?"

Umino explained, "She was going on and on about how I don't do romantic stuff for her enough and that I should since if she wasn't dating me, no other girl would want to. But, then when I disproved her, she got all mad and hasn't really forgiven me since."

"How did you do that?" Usagi asked.

"Well I reminded her of that time when you begged me to go out on that date with you, so that just goes to show that I'm not as undesirable as she thinks." He said while beaming with pride.

Demande having a mouthful of liquid upon hearing this, immediately spit it out without warning as his gasp in shock caused him to choke.

"Umino, how many more times do I have to tell you that, that was not a date!" she said defensively.

"That's what she kept saying, but she didn't see how desperate you were about it at the time. I mean, you practically dragged me to that café and we even shared a soda."

All the color from Demande's face drained when the image of the beautiful Neo-Queen Serenity sharing a soda with this boy came to mind. Not only was this inconceivable to him, but also a direct blow to his ego.

She grabbed Umino's collar and began to shake him.

"Take it back!" she growled.

Demande bent down to wipe away the wet spot on the floor before either of them noticed the barbaric behavior he just displayed.

The bell then sounded off which caught all of their attentions.

"It's time!" Umino said in excitement, breaking away from Usagi's grip.

"See you all tomorrow!" he called out before disappearing out the door in a matter of seconds.

"Oh… _you_!" Usagi called out to him while making a fist.

Suddenly remembering Satoshi-san was in the room, she walked over to where he was hunched over cleaning and for some reason felt the need to explain herself.

"We didn't really go on a date, you know." She told him.

Beginning to find humor in the situation now, Demande started to chuckle, "I don't know, he sure seems to think you did."

"I only asked him to that café so that I could spy on Mamoru and Rei's date. I couldn't really blend in with everyone if I went in by myself so I had him come with me." She blurted out.

He lifted his head, "You mean, your boyfriend, Mamoru? And your friend, Rei, dated?"

"Um, yeah. Very briefly though. They only went on a few dates, and they weren't even really dates, just them hanging out." Usagi mumbled trying not to sound resentful. It had been so long ago that she hadn't had to hear the stomach clenching ring it had to it when someone said the fact out loud.

"Oh, so this is before you knew him then?" he asked.

"No. We had actually known each other for a few months by that time but, we hadn't realized our feelings for each other yet. Funny how it all worked out." She ended with a forced laughter.

"Yes, funny indeed." He said while trying to suppress another grin.

The bustling of students letting out, started to fill the hallways now.

"I should probably try and find my friends before I end up having to walk home by myself." Usagi said.

"Thank you again, Satoshi-san." She smiled before turning to leave.

"W-Wait!" he called to her.

She turned back to him.

"Your book. Have you finished it yet?" he asked.

"I've managed to almost reach the end and have been taking notes for when I write my report just as you suggested." She said.

"That's great, I just finished my copy." He said. "Stop by sometime and let me know what you think of the ending."

She smiled and told him "You'll see me in here tomorrow."

Just like that, the awkward tension between them seemed to disappear and things were back to where they left off last, he could feel it. If only Saphir could show signs of forgiving him, then he could truly feel at ease again.

* * *

When he returned home later that evening, Demande opened his door to a dark and empty apartment. Just as he suspected, Saphir went out before attending his night classes just as he had been every evening. He wasn't even sure if Saphir was still continuing on growing the power of the black crystal, but under the assumption that he hadn't, Demande had been working on it harder than ever, channeling his power countless hours into the night. While he felt that his strength was nearing the point it had been back on Nemesis, he hadn't felt any trace of Rubeus and Esmeraude's energy inside the gems in weeks and it was starting to make him worry.

He opened the drawer of his nightstand that held the shiny, black crystal earrings and placed them on each ear. The dark energy began to course through his veins creating a surge of power inside him, preparing him for the rigorous night ahead. He placed his hand on the panel that activated the doors to slide open and stepped inside the vast room whose shadowy walls spanned infinitely with shards of the Jakokusuishou covering almost every square inch. The doors then closed behind him, sealing him inside the dark chamber.

* * *

Hours Later:

Feeling completely drained, Demande staggered out the room polluted with negative energy and went straight into the bathroom to splash cold water onto his face. He looked up into the mirror to see the white haired man with violet eyes reflect the upside crescent moon symbol on his forehead back at him. In his new life on Earth, he had grown to despise the sight of his family symbol for it was a constant reminder of how he failed to protect his people and branded him as an enemy with the woman he wanted more than anything.

He will win her love no matter what it took. The threads that bound the fate of those two were more fragile than he could have ever imagined. The King is an even bigger fool than he originally took him for and it'll only be a matter of time before his carelessness will cause him to lose everything, and the beauty of it was that he would never even see it coming.

Not having enough energy make it to his bedroom, Demande instead, crawled onto their living room couch and passed out.

When morning came and the sun started to peer into the windows, he opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself still dressed in clothes from the day before and not in his bed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, then ran his fingers through his lengthy hair and suddenly became aware of the fact that his black crystal earrings weren't in his ears anymore when he was sure he fell asleep without taking them off. He leapt off the couch in a panic, almost tumbling down to the ground as his legs were entangled in a blanket that wasn't there before as well, but managed to catch his fall when he grabbed onto the edge of the coffee table. There, on the surface of it, lied the missing earrings that were neatly placed next to a glass of water. He let out a sigh of relief and sat back on the couch, pushing the blanket aside, then grabbed the glass and downed it, not aware of how dehydrated he was. There was only one way these things could have gotten there.

' _Saphir.'_ Demande thought as he looked towards the closed door of his brother's room.

* * *

 _Afternoon:_

The final bell sounded off followed shortly by the bustling of students could be heard throughout the hallway.

"Thanks for the hard work, Umino, you're free to go now." Demande said dismissing him.

It was Umino's last day assisting with things in the library and he was anxious to start preparations for his date night at the concert as he reiterated to Demande over and over that "tomorrow night had to go absolutely perfect."

"Thank you, sir!" he called out before leaving.

The few students left sitting at the tables, dispersed since club activities were about to begin, leaving the library to just the two of them when she would finally arrive.

Just as they walked out, Usagi came through the doorway, just as he anticipated her to do.

"Glad to see you could make it." He greeted her.

"Hello." She said in a shy manner.

"Help yourself to whichever table you wish." He said.

As she went to pull out a chair for herself, Demande intervened and pulled it out for her, motioning for her to sit.

"Thank you, Satoshi-san." Usagi said, slightly taken about by the chivalrous gesture.

When she took her place on the chair, he leaned in close to her.

"Please, call me Tohru. We agreed to drop the formalities when no one's around, remember? " He said into her ear in almost a whisper.

Her cheeks began to turn red and her blue eyes now stared into his green ones.

"Thank you..Tohru." She said, smiling when the word escaped her mouth.

"Much better. So, you said you're getting close to the end now?" he tapped his hand on top of her copy of _Romeo & Juilet._

"Yes, I'm about to begin Act 5 and once I finish that, I'll be ready to start writing my essay." She said excitedly.

"Well, I'll let you get started then, I've got some paperwork to fill out so just call out to me if there's anything you need."

She gave a nod to him and each of them began their separate tasks.

As the quiet minutes passed, Demande found that he couldn't really concentrate and would find himself, instead, looking over to her studying each and every one of the delicate features on her face.

Act 5 was the climax of the story where the two lover's meet their tragic end as they both end up taking their own life under the false impression that the other was already dead. A twist that he could see coming, but how would an empathetic person such as her take such an unhappy ending?

When he finally forced himself back to his work, he heard a high pitched gasp escape from her.

He jerked his head up.

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

She was sitting straight up and not looking down at her book anymore but straight in front of her, without giving a response.

"Usagi?" he repeated before getting up from his seat.

As he stood beside her, he saw that she didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular and that her eyes seemed unfocused and blank.

Something wasn't right.

"What's the matter?" he asked again as he waved his hand in front of her.

Again, no response or change in her vacant expression. Something was very wrong, here.

"Usagi!" he called out before he grabbed her shoulders to try and shake her out of it.

The moment he touched her, a pain surged through his head and just like back on the rooftop, he was once again met with a barrage of images until it settled on a single, coherent memory.

* * *

He could see two figures running down a long corridor. One was a young girl whose white gown and blonde hair flew behind her alongside a dark haired man wearing armor and a cape. As the scene began to pan out, he could now see a large crowd of people armed with swords and other weapons chasing the couple.

This was different from the experience on the rooftop since not only was he able to hear what was going on, it was as if he was witnessing the unfolding of events in person.

The two people seemed to be gaining distance from the angry mob, but suddenly had to halt their desperate attempt at escape when they reached a dead end. That is when they finally turned around to face the blood thirsty crowd and Demande recognized the two figures as Neo-Queen Serenity and her husband, King Endymion. But they both appeared much younger and as he looked around at his surroundings, it didn't look that they were in Crystal Tokyo. In fact, this place was unlike anything he had ever seen. He soon realized that the girl that stood before him was not the Queen or even Usagi, but rather, her past incarnate, Princess Serenity.

Fear reflected off of Serenity's face as Endymion took out his sword and made one final stance toward the one leading the bloodthirsty mob, a woman with auburn hair wearing a peasant dress.

"Please, sire, don't be deceived by this witch, she is the enemy!" She said as she directed her sword toward the princess.

"Stop this senseless violence while you still can! I know our kingdoms can coexist if we just try!" the Prince.

A dark aura that had been hovering over the women began to seep into her body as it did the four generals at her side and onto the rest of her followers. Their faces deemed inhuman at this point and they merely laughed a twisted laugh upon hearing his plea.

"Never! We will never join forces with the likes of them!" one of the generals shouted with disgust pointing at Serenity.

"Kunzite. Zoisite. Nephrite. Jaedite. How could you betray me like this?" Endymion asked appearing almost heartbroken.

The general with long, white hair responded by throwing a spear at his direction that Endymion was able to avoid by ducking at the last possible second. However, this was used as a means to distract the prince as the woman ran towards the princess with her sword held above her head, ready to slice into her with all her might.

Prince Endymion managed to shield the princess by jumping in front of the sword just as the woman brought it down and tore through the flesh of his back. With his arms wrapped around the princess, blood gushed from the deep gash, staining the front of the princess's white gown.

The Prince looked deep into the young woman's horrified eyes, and placed his hand onto her cheek.

"Serenity." He spoke in his last breath before collapsing dead at her feet.

"Endymion!" Demande heard her call out.

She cradled the body in devastation as she called out his name over and over.

"This is all your fault!" the woman shrieked. "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you!"

She advanced toward the princess a second time, "Your existence is an abomination!"

Just as she attempted another attack on the girl holding onto her lover's dead body, a wall of fire formed in between them, knocking her back as Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter jumped to either side of the Princess. Sailor Mars called out another attack toward the enemies as Sailor Jupiter quickly grabbed Princess Serenity, threw her over her shoulder and carried her away as fast as she could.

"No we mustn't leave him! Go back!" Serenity called out trying to break free of Jupiters's hold on her.

"It's too late for him!" Jupiter yelled back to her.

When they managed to get far enough away from their enemies, Sailor Jupiter shoved Serenity inside a room in the palace and immediately shut the door and locked her inside.

"No!" Serenity shouted as she tried to open the door.

"I'm sorry for this, but we have to keep you safe at all costs." Jupiter said back to her.

"Let me out!" Serenity screamed at the top of her lungs.

Mars, who was able to escape the possessed crowd, made her way to Jupiter's side and informed her, "The Queen is on her way."

"Good, hopefully she can make it in time." Jupiter sighed in relief.

"Serenity, your mother will be here soon. We must go now, Mercury and Venus can't hold them all off for much longer." Jupiter said.

"We'll try and come back as soon as we can!" Mars yelled back before they left her alone.

Serenity banged the door with her fists and cried out over and over again, but without there being anyone on the other side of the door to let her out, she eventually exhausted herself and collapsed to the floor.

As the girl silently wept, mourning the loss of her lover, Demande wished there was something he could do to help the poor girl, but was only allowed to simply watch her.

Princess Serenity finally rose off the ground and looked around the room she was in.

It was spacious but bare, filled with white columns, floored with marble and had very little furniture. In the center of it, stood a glass display encasing a sword. She seemed to take notice of it and began frantically searching the room for something, but, he wasn't sure what.

His question was answered soon enough when a small statue flew into the case causing the glass to shatter into a million pieces around it. With her hands trembling, she took the sword from its casing and examine it in it's entirety, tracing the sharp end of the blade with her fingertips.

' _What is she planning?'_ Demande wondered.

Within seconds, all was made clear as she held out the handle in front of her and pointed the sword to herself.

Fresh tears began to fall down her face as she called out Endymion's name one last time before driving the blade into her abdomen.

' _No!'_ he attempted to call out.

The door to the room burst open at that moment her lifeless body fell to the ground and the last thing he could see was the distant silhouette of a woman who let out a horrific scream before the vision left him.

* * *

He looked around, and saw everything had returned back to normal.

Usagi's eyes blinked as life returned to them, but was oblivious to what had just happened.

She looked up to see her librarian's hands on her shoulders.

"Did I doze off or something?" she asked him.

Still in shock over the scene that had just played out for him, he ripped his hands away from her before he would be forced to endure anymore, and simply gave her a nod.

She closed the book.

"I think I'll stop for today, my eyes are starting to feel heavy." She said while rubbing them.

"Of course." He said, panting breathlessly.

As he tried to piece together what he just witnessed, it occurred to him that what he saw must have been a memory from her former life that is hidden deep within her subconscious.

In the time he was from, it was common knowledge to the people of Earth and Nemesis that Neo-Queen Serenity was reincarnated from an ancient civilization that ruled in the time period known as the Silver Millennium that was located on the Earth's moon. However, beyond that, not much more is known to the public since the people on the interiors of the Crystal Palace consider the information of their former lives highly classified. Even using his most talented sources on hacking into their database, it was always impossible in finding out any more about it.

These memories could be suppressed so deep inside of her that even she may not even be fully aware of them, but were triggered when she read the part in _Romeo & Juliet _that paralleled so closely to her own demise.

He felt like an idiot for recommending a book such as this one to her. All it did was reaffirm her feelings for the king even more and he knew that was why she was so attracted to the story. He needed to make her forget about him while their relationship was at such a vulnerable stage before it was too late.

While she gathered her things, he began to try and make small talk with her.

"So, the weekend's finally here. Any exciting plans?"

"No, not really since I was never able to get any tickets to that concert." She pouted.

"You really want to go to it that badly?" he asked.

"Yes, someone very important to me is going to be on that stage tomorrow night and it would have meant the world to me for me to have seen that performance." She sighed.

He began to feel that pang of jealousy that grew so intensely, it caused him to take desperate action.

"Usagi?" he asked.

"Hm?" she answered.

"Remember how you were planning on giving me that tour of an arcade on the day all that disarray happened?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, that's right. I had forgotten all about that." she said.

"Would you still be interested in that? I'm afraid I still haven't made any new friends in Juuban yet and with my brother going to night classes during the week, I don't have anyone to accompany me to these arcades and you seem to know so much about them."

"You want to go with me?" she asked in disbelief.

"Only if you really want to, I'll understand if you'd think it too weird."

"No, I-" she stopped, unsure of what answer to give.

Ami's warnings, Luna's nagging, even her own doubts and reservations were gnawing at the back of her mind.

But here was something reassuring in his eyes that made her feel like she could trust him, that she would be safe with him. Aside from that, it just wasn't in her nature to turn down a trip to the arcade no matter what the circumstances were.

"I'd be glad to." She said with a smile.

"Tonight?" he asked.

"Alright." She answered.

"How about you head there now and I'll meet you when I'm done closing the library? We wouldn't want us leaving together to cause anymore unnecessary rumors." He said with a slight chuckle.

She nodded and said to him before leaving, "I'll see you shortly then, Tohru."

* * *

 _Author's Note- Just a reminder that although this story mainly follows the anime adaptation, it will sometimes contain events which occurred only in the manga in case there was any confusion. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will try and upload the next one as soon as I can._


	13. Chapter 12-Enter Haruka and Michiru

Usagi anxiously paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the Crown's Game Center and decided to check her watch again.

It was a quarter to 6 now, making it a total of 15 minutes since she had left. As the time for him to arrive inched closer, she started to question her decision to meet him outside of the school. There's no doubt that if any of her friends found out about this, they would be furious with her. But, it was too late for that now, she was committed at this point.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Tohru's voice crept up from behind her.

She turned, somewhat startled, and replied nervously, "No, it's fine."

"Shall we go inside?" he asked.

Usagi nodded as she lead him inside the arcade.

The sliding doors opened, bombarding them with the blinking lights and loud sounds that were given off from all the different machines and games. He was still unfamiliar with the concept of a place such as this, for any type of recreation on his home planet was very hard to come by, but, he was open to the new experience.

A young girl who was standing behind the counter greeted them who Usagi immediately recognized as Motoki's younger sister.

"Unazuki-chan, are you working at the arcade today?" Usagi asked.

"Usagi-chan, long time no see!" she responded. "I'm afraid Motoki Onii-san's swamped with exams right now and needed me to run the register so he can study. Being a senior in college must be tough." She further commented.

"I don't even want to imagine." Usagi said as if she was nauseated at the idea.

Demande stepped closer to her side which caused Unazuki to finally notice his presence.

"Is this a friend of yours or something?" she asked.

"Oh, this is…Tohru." She then looked to Demande. "This is Unazuki Furuhata, her family owns both the Crown Gaming Center and the Café next door."

"I see, pleasure to meet you." He said flashing her a smile.

"Y-Yes." She said nervously.

It dawned on Usagi just then, how fortunate she was in Motoki being out that day. Motoki was one of Mamoru's close friends from school as well as being an older brother-like figure to Usagi. There's no doubt that he would have misconstrued things, seeing her with another man while her boyfriend is out of the country.

"Can I get either of you any tokens?" Unazuki asked the both of them.

Usagi pulled out her coin purse and opened it to find it completely empty.

"Oh no, I forgot that I spent the last of my allowance earlier." She said in disappointment.

"Don't be silly, I invited you here, I'll get whatever is needed. How about you go and choose a machine for us and I'll be over to meet you in a moment." He said.

Usagi smiled then nodded before heading over to where all the arcade games were.

She knew exactly which game she would pick.

The Sailor V game was still her favorite game to play even though it had been 2 years since it was first put in. That game was what she had Ami-chan played even though she had never touched any kind of video game before and is convinced it caused her to enjoy video games even slightly more than Usagi, though she would never admit it. She was hoping he would enjoy it just as much.

When she approached the console, she was surprised to see that right next to it was a brand new Sailor Moon game that hadn't been there the last time she came. The colors on the machine were so bright and vivid, it made the Sailor V machine's dull and faded in comparison. She circled the machine in awe, and blushed at the extra "generous" details the artist added to her alter ego's image . If someone told herself 2 years ago, as she stared in the same manner at the Sailor V images, that she too would acquire this very same fame, she would have thought it absolutely ludicrous. But here it was, and as someone with an extreme passion for video games she couldn't help but think of it as one of her proudest accomplishments.

"I hope this will be enough." He spoke as he made his way towards her.

When she turned around, her eyes widened at the incredibly large sack of tokens he brought over with him.

"What did you do, buy the whole register?" she asked.

"Sort of." He said in a chuckle.

She too, laughed.

"So, which one do you usually play?" he then asked.

"I usually start off with the Sailor V game here." She motioned to it.

He looked at it momentarily before the one next to it caught his eye.

"What about this one?" he pointed to the Sailor Moon game.

"Yes they just put this one in, I haven't ever played it before. Which one would you like to start out with?" she asked him.

"Well, if you don't mind, I think I would prefer to try the Sailor Moon one first. I'm a fan of her's you see." He said matter-of-factly while taking a seat the stool in front of it.

When he said this, she couldn't help but feel flattered as she took a seat next to him.

She then said, "To start the game, you need to insert the tokens through the slot down here. This game requires two so, you just put in two token like so and-"

The intro screen lit up, with Sailor Moon dawning her original fuku, as she performed her signature pose while shouting "In the name of the moon, I will punish you." The battle music then began and a chibi version of sailor moon stood there idly at the beginning of the level. A monster in the game quickly came up and attacked her over and over since Demande didn't even have his hands positioned on any of the buttons before they were met with a 'Game Over' screen.

After a few moments, he slowly turned to her and asked innocently, "Was I supposed to be doing something?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that this was your first time playing a video game. Here why don't you watch me play a round and I'll show you what each button does as I go, I think that'll be the easiest way to learn." She said.

They switched seats and she inserted another set of tokens. The screen lit up once again, playing it's quick intro before the chibi Sailor Moon on the screen appeared again. On this go around, Usagi was able to make it through the first three levels without dying as she jumped from platform to platform, avoiding Youma and using attacks as she explained to him about the mechanisms of the game.

When the 'Game Over' read across the screen once again, Usagi turned to Demande.

"Want to give it another try?"

He gave a nod, "Sure."

They switched seats again and when he made another attempt, he was able to get 30 seconds in this time before being killed by a Youma.

"Sorry, I'm not doing very well, am I?" he said.

"No, that was much better, try it again." She reassured him.

He placed more tokens into the slot once again and started another round.

As he played, Usagi got up and stood over him, placing each of her hands over his so that she could guide his movements better. By the time she was able to get him through the first level, he was beginning to grasp the strategical movements and as time went on, she didn't have to help him as much and she sat back down next to him. He then died again shortly after and let out a frustrated grunt.

"Do you mind if I try one more time? I think I have it now." he asked her.

"Not at all. I can tell you're really starting to get the hang of it." She said enthusiastically.

He started up the machine again and played through the first level, controlling the chibi Sailor Moon to destroy each Youma that came at her using her tiara weapon, completing it with ease. The second level proved to be more difficult as the amount of Youma increased and seemed to be able to dodge the attacks. But, eventually he was able to make it all the way to the third level.

It was by this time, he picked up on the pattern of the level, avoiding each Youma's attack and timing the jumps just right. When he was attempting the fourth level, Usagi began to lean in and watch in amazement as the points gathered in the top right of the screen, which rose substantially as he was unlocking and using the different combo moves.

Usagi began to cheer him on as he made it past another three levels as they were proving to be more and more difficult which brought out his competitive side and his unwillingness to lose. At the end of the sixth level, he was met with a mini cut-scene that was the first boss fight as a chibi version of Queen Beryl blasted different attacks towards the small senshi, depleting her health over and over. To no avail, the 'Game Over' screen popped up again and both Demande and Usagi groaned out load in disappointment.

The looked at each other and started to laugh at how they mirrored each other just then.

"Oh look!" Usagi pointed up at the screen excitedly.

"You're the top scoring player so far!"

"Not a bad first day, I think." He gloated.

"I'd say not." She replied, then playfully said, "But I think I can if you give me another try, I could top it."

"Go right ahead" he stood and gestured to where he was sitting.

Despite what she said, Usagi had several 'Game Over's" as she desperately tried to reach the point Demande got to. She was becoming frustrated at how difficult the game was, but managed to make it all the way up to the level before the boss fight. That was when she finally gave up.

She was able to make the board as the 3rd highest scorer, making her satisfied with the final outcome.

"We can try another game now if you want, since I've already burned through half the tokens." Usagi said.

"You don't have to worry about that, if we run out, I can always get more." He assured her.

"Thank you, but I don't think that will be necessary." She replied.

They moved on to a few different arcade games, before she brought him to the giant crane game in the middle of the center. She showed him how to maneuver the giant claw and explained how you have to positon it just right over one of the prizes for it to stay within it's grasp.

When it came to be his turn to try, he asked, "Which one in here do you like?"

"Well, I was actually attempting to get that doll over there." She said pointing to the Eternal Sailor Moon styled plushy.

He carefully hovered the claw over the doll and initiated it for it to drop and grab onto it. Unfortunately, as it rose back up, the doll dropped back into the pile of toys proving it to be a lot more difficult than it looked.

On his second attempt, he decided to cheat the game by using his powers to achieve his goal. It was reckless, but he was certain she would never be able to detect it since he was using such a minimal amount. When the claw dropped down and grabbed onto the doll, he could tell that the doll would fall out again on it's own, but that didn't matter. He put all of his concentration into making the doll float up with the claw as if it was being held by it.

Usagi was "Oooing and Ahhing" as it was a rare occurrence for anyone to win a prize at this game.

When the claw finally moved over the bin and began to open it's grip was when he broke eye contact and the doll dropped.

Usagi clapped her hands and cheered.

"Here, for you." He presented it to her.

She asked him, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I won this for you." He said, placing it in her hands.

She took the doll and hugged it to her chest as she blushed and smiled at him, "Thank you."

His heart seemed to beat so loud just then when he looked at her that he felt as if she'd be able to hear it if she were to step any closer.

They moved onto the multi-player games like rail shooters and combat games where they fought each other, then tried the air hockey and ski ball. She couldn't recall a time she was able to play so many of the games at one time.

They approached the racing game now.

"This is one of my favorites as well, it's a lot of fun." Usagi pulled him over towards it.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to go to the counter and get more tokens first, I can't believe how quick that bag emptied out." He chuckled.

"Oh no, please, you don't have to –" she protested.

He held up a hand to silence her, "Don't worry, I want to. This is actually a lot of fun."

She smiled, "Alright, I'll wait right here."

He returned her smile and walked towards the counter.

He wasn't lying to her when he said he was having a good time. It was bizarre that something so mindless and pointless could relieve so much stress and help to forget your current problems. He admitted to himself that before living here, he would have scoffed at the idea of a place such as this, but he was glad to experience something like this with her and felt as if nothing could bring him down at this point.

When he arrived at the counter, the young girl wasn't there, so he decided to wait around, figuring she could be in the back room and would come back out soon.

As he stood around, he looked towards a small table in the distance and noticed that it had something shiny on top of it. When he moved closer to it, the object turned out to be a golden handheld mirror that was finely crafted, looking old like an antique yet in the most pristine condition as if it was brand new. He picked it up and turned to examine it the back. It had a beautiful greenish-blue color that was adorned with lovely decal's framed by more of the gold.

He was confused as to why such a gorgeous item such as this would be laying around in an arcade. None of the prizes behind the counter were even close to the worth of this mirror so it couldn't have come from there.

After staring at the back for a little while, he turned it back around and looked into his reflection. To his shock, the man staring back was not Tohru Satoshi, but rather, Prince Demande of Nemesis. The white hair, the violet eyes, even as he brought the mirror out further, the clothes that reflected back was the traditional white, suite he wore on back on Nemesis. He looked around him in a panic for an exit to escape before Usagi would discover him like this.

But as he passed a full length mirror on of the adjacent walls, he saw that his disguise was still intact. He looked to the hand mirror, back to the other mirror, then back to the hand mirror again. Even his complexion was different; paler inside the hand mirror as it is untouched by sun compared to slight beige color his skin now was. Unable to take his gaze away from it, he brought his fingers up to his forehead, feeling the area where the Black Moon symbol should be.

"See something interesting?" A voice called.

Startled, he turned to the voice.

It belonged to a young woman. She was very beautiful and as she walked towards him, she moved with such grace that it was more like she was gliding towards him. Her hair and eyes had a unique color to them, as it was impossible to distinguish if they were blue or green, much like the color of the sea. The smell of rose petals filled the air when she neared him that was almost intoxicating.

He noticed she wore a slight smile on her face, but was unable to tell what emotion lied behind that smile.

"I must thank you for saving me the trouble of locating my mirror." She said to him.

"Oh, this is yours? I saw it laying on this table and just picked it up to admire it, it's an incredible piece." He said.

She continued to stare at him until she asked, "Mind if I ask what it was you saw when you looked inside of it?"

"My own reflection, of course." He said with a tinge of impatience. "What else would I see?"

"This mirror is said to reveal your inner most self, who you really are deep down. Perhaps what you saw…frightened you?" she said.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken." He said.

"A silly superstition I suppose." She said with a touch of laughter.

The young girl, still wearing the same expression on her face continued to simply stare at him. Although it seemed innocent enough, he couldn't help but feel as if her gaze was purposely trying to pierce through him and dissect his innermost thoughts. As if she knew something about him and was waiting for him to say it out loud.

But, he soon came to realize that he was still holding onto her mirror and she was probably just patiently waiting for him to give it back.

"Sorry about that." He said with a nervous laughter as he handed her the valuable mirror.

When the flesh of their fingertips touched as he gave it to her, was when he felt it. That wave of an unknown energy source. It was different than the energies that emitted from the Three Lights and the small white haired lady in the business suit, but, he was unsure if that was a good or bad.

She looked deep into his eyes now, her expression unchanged even from the shock of energy between them.

"The color of your eyes are noble." The girl told him.

She looked into her mirror and then to him, "Perhaps you were a prince in your former life?"

"Why do you say that?" he asked her obviously flustered.

Again in keeping her same expression and calm tone of her voice, she answer, "Sorry for saying such an odd thing, don't let it bother you. If you'll excuse me, I'm looking for someone. Goodbye."

She walked away taking the mirror and scent of rose petals with her.

His heart began to pound so fast that he began to break out in a cold sweat.

That girl. She knows what he is, or at the very least suspects something. This was not good, not good at all.

"Sorry I was out taking a small break, did you need more tokens?" the Furuhata girl called out from behind register.

"Yes, please." He said as he handed her more money.

"I'm afraid I'm having trouble finding where we keep the extra tokens at the moment so I'll have to look around in the back room. You see, Oni-chan's usually the one that works here so I'm not as familiar with…" she trailed off as she noticed the troubled expression on his face.

"Are you feeling alright, you look a little flushed." She commented.

"Actually, can you point me to where your restrooms are?" he asked her.

"Down the hall and around the corner." She directed him.

"Thanks." Is all he said before walking away in a hurried pace.

He knew that Usagi was waiting for him, but he needed a few minutes to compose himself and calm his nerves down. Yes, there was a strong possibility that, that woman was not an ordinary human and there was also a chance that she could tell he wasn't as well. But, was she an enemy? Could she even possibly be an ally? It was hard to tell from that blank smile she wore; that emotionless, Mona Lisa smile.

The color was coming back to his cheeks now and he took a deep breath before leaving the restroom. He had left Usagi several minutes ago and he needed to get back to her as soon as possible before she started to think that something was wrong.

He was glad he returned when he did, because he when finally spotted her back in the arcade, he saw that she wasn't alone now. A tall, good looking man with blonde hair was talking and acting very familiar with her. He kept grabbing on to one of her pig tails and playfully tugging onto it while Usagi didn't exactly resist.

As he walked up to them, he heard the man saying to her, "Did your friend get lost or something, Odango?"

"Not in the slightest." Demande said crassly.

They both looked to him now. The young man, from what Demande could tell, seemed almost appalled at his presence.

"Oh? This is your friend?" he asked Usagi.

"Yes, I was..showing him some of the games from here…he's never played games before and…" she was mumbling almost like she wished as if Tohru was anywhere else but here right now and he didn't know why. Who was this man?

"Tohru Satoshi." Demande said as he stepped forward to him.

"Haruka Tenoh." The young man replied, not even attempting to put on a polite façade.

"May I ask how you two know each other?" he asked.

"Well, he works up at my school, sort of like a student worker type thing, and helps me out with my school work every once in a while." She said.

Not only was she stumbling over her words but her lying was making the situation seem worse than it really was.

"So, in other words you're a teacher hanging out with a student. That doesn't seem to be very appropriate." Haruka said.

"I beg your pardon?" Demande said raising his voice.

"Now, now, now Haruka." A voice called from outside of the small group. The girl Demande had met earlier walked up to them.

"Are you picking a fight with Usagi's new friend over here." The young woman said with that same emotionless smile.

"I was doing no such thing. We were just introducing ourselves." Haruka said in annoyance.

"If anything, you should be thanking him. He recovered my mirror that a _certain someone_ was supposed to be holding for me while I attended the ladies room." She shifted her eyes towards the young man, yet still showed no change in demeanor.

Haruka winced. "Sorry. When I saw our little koneko-chan sitting alone over here, I ran up to her and must have set it down without thinking."

"Likely story." She replied before turning to Demande.

"Thank you again for finding my mirror, I'm afraid we didn't get a proper introduction before, I'm Michiru Kaioh."

"I'm Tohru Satoshi and it's no problem. I would be deeply upset if I lost a beautifully crafted antique such as that."

She gave the first genuine smile that he had seen her give thus far before she turned to Usagi.

"Haruka and I came up here looking for you actually."

"You did?" Usagi said.

"Yes, to give you this." Michiru handed her a slip of paper.

Usagi read the fine print and soon her eyes began to widen.

"Is this what I think it is?" she asked Michiru.

Michiru nodded. "Yes, it's a ticket for tomorrow night's concert."

Usagi jumped into the air screaming cheers of excitement.

While Haruka's mood seem to lighten up in the midst of this, Demande's secretly began to fall into the pit's when he heard this news but all he could do was nothing.

"I'm glad I was able to find you in time, we went up to your school earlier and gave the girls their tickets, but they said you weren't there." Michiru said.

"You were able to get them tickets too?" Usagi asked.

"Yes, Michiru was able to acquire 6 tickets. One for you and the others and then one for me of course." Haruka said.

Being that there were four tickets left, Demande knew only too well who "the others" were, they were referring to.

"I'm meeting up with you guys there at 6:00 so don't be late." Haruka winked at Usagi, but she was so enraptured by the small piece of paper that she didn't seem to be paying attention.

"The concert is going to be amazing, Michiru, I can't wait!" Usagi squealed to her.

"Yes. It'll be just magnificent." Haruka said softly, wrapping an arm around Michiru and gazing into her eyes with affection.

At the same time, Michiru returned her affections as she looked up at Haruka with her eyes showing the unmistakable look of pure unadulterated love.

"Well it looks like we better be going now." Michiru said, not taking her eyes off of Haruka.

She turned to Demande and told him, "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Haruka added, "Sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to make such an accusation."

"It's forgotten. But just to clarify I'm not her teacher." Demande said.

Michiru leaned into him as Haruka was saying goodbye to Usagi.

"I wouldn't let it bother you, Haruka's jealousy tends to rear it's ugly head around other good looking men."

"Hey I heard that." Haruka said.

Michiru grabbed onto Haruka's arm as they made their way towards the exit. "See you tomorrow Usagi!"

"I'm not jealous, I tell you." Haruka said to her.

"Shh." Michiru placed two fingers to Haruka's lips. "Save that energy for when we get home."

She turned back and waved one last time be they walked out of the door as Usagi and Demande stared after them.

He turned to her to find her blushing looking as if she was absolutely fascinated by them. But, he was slightly relieved that those two seemed to be involved and that Haruka and Usagi were only friends. Demande knew how it was when jealousy reared it's ugly head so maybe that was the one possible common ground they had.

More importantly, there was something about them that he knew wasn't normal. The man gave off similar energies to the girl and they both happened to have some sort of connection with Usagi and the rest of her senshi. There was a strong foreboding feeling deep inside him, because if what he suspected about them was true, then he and Sapphir were more at risk than he originally thought. He just hoped he could find out who they are before they find out who he really was.

Haruka Tenoh. Michiru Kaoih.

"Michiru Kaoih." He said to himself quietly.

"Michiru?" Usagi asked.

"It just occurred to me that I've heard that name before. Maybe you've mentioned it to me in the library?" he asked.

"You mean you don't know?" she asked him in disbelief.

He shook his head confused as to what she meant by that.

She walked away and over to a bulletin board near the register. She pulled off a flyer that was being held by a thumbtack and handed it to him.

It was her! She was the act that was joining the Three Lights at that concert tomorrow.

"Her violin playing is truly one of the most beautiful things you will ever hear, and I'm not even a fan of classical music." Usagi gleamed.

"So she is…" he said.

' _Someone very important to me is going to be on that stage tomorrow night and it would have meant the world to me to see that performance.'_ He remembered her saying earlier.

"This is why you're so excited to see this concert, isn't it." He said.

"Oh yes she is a very dear friend to me, as well as Haruka." Her face brightened.

"So what about her boyfriend, he doesn't seem like the classical instrument playing type." he asked her, hoping she would reveal some sort of information about either of them.

"Haruka's a race car driver. Actually, it's funny, people tend to make this mistake all the time and I admit I did as well at first but, Haruka is actually a gir-"

"Hey sorry for taking so long with those tokens! I finally broke down and called Onii-san and he told me where to find them." Unazuki interrupted.

"It's alright." He said as he received the tokens.

"Did you still want to continue? I know you probably want to get ready for that concert." He asked Usagi.

"How about a few more rounds and we can call it a night? I still wanted to show you the racing game." she said.

"Sounds good." He smiled to her.

A few more rounds, turned into a whole couple of hours more, with the arcade closing being the only reason they left to go home.

Demande walked Usagi to her bus stop and they talked along the way.

"So what did you think?" Usagi asked him.

"I actually had a lot of fun." Demande said laughing slightly.

"Really?!" she asked eagerly.

He nodded. "Really."

"You still have your Sailor Moon prize?" he reminded her.

"Yes, thank you again for winning it for me!" she smiled warmly.

He laughed again, "Glad you like it."

"Can I ask you something?" said Usagi.

"Sure." He replied.

"Speaking of Sailor Moon, earlier you mentioned that you were a fan of hers?" she said in a shy voice.

"I am." he said.

"I'm just curious as to why that is."

He stopped walking momentarily to think of his answer.

"Well… she's brave, determined, selfless, has a pure sense of justice, beautiful."

"Beautiful?" she asked.

"Oh yes, probably one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Whoever the man is that has her heart has to be the luckiest in the world."

She turned her head away now too embarrassed to look at him.

His eyes shifted over to her and was enjoying the reaction he was giving her making it hard to wipe smile off of his face.

"Can I tell you something that I haven't told anyone before, not even my brother?" he asked.

She nodded.

"You may think me foolish but, one of the main reasons I chose this city when I relocated, was that this area had a high amount of reported sightings of her. I thought that maybe if I lived here long enough that one day I can actually see her in person, maybe even meet her. I know it's unlikely but, I can dream, can I?"

"No, it's not foolish at all." She said as all of the color rose to her cheeks.

"Oh wow you're really red." He said before placing his hand on her forehead. "Are you getting a fever?"

She started to tense up as her heart began to race and she swiftly took a step backwards.

"No-no I don't think I am." She said.

The bus started to pull up.

"I guess this is me." She told him.

"Here, before you go, I wanted you to take this with you. You can use it next time you go so you won't have to wait on your next allowance." Demande handed her a bag half filled with tokens.

"I couldn't possibly take all this, I feel bad if I used them without you, after all, you did buy them." She said trying to give them back to him.

"Well, if you don't object to another visit here with me, then you can keep it for the next time." He handed the bag back to her.

She looked as if surprised but, then smiled and nodded.

"Thank you for everything today, this is the first time in a very long time where I felt like all my troubles seem to have disappeared. I'll see you at school, Tohru." She said before boarding the bus.

It caught him off guard so much so that he wasn't able to verbalize his goodbye to her until she was out of earshot.

He let out a small sigh, looking up into the sky filled with stars as if he was seeing them for the first time and knew that it was only a matter of time when he would come to have everything he ever dreamed of.

* * *

She wasn't the only to have forgotten all worries and troubles because once he reached the door to his home, the gloomy realization came over him how once again he would spend another weekend alone with only the Jakokusuishou to keep him company.

When he opened the door and hung up his coat, he noticed that there was a new computer with a desk and chair next to their window. He went over to examine it, wondering how long it had been there for.

"I purchased it earlier today." Said Saphir's voice in the distance.

Demande turned to see that he had been standing outside his bedroom door watching him this whole time. He didn't reply to Saphir right away.

"I used the remaining scholarship money I had received to pay for it. I thought it would be more convenient to work on my school work at home rather than spend so much time at the university. It's nothing special, but, it's been fascinating getting to use such primitive technology, such a long way the 30th century will come." Saphir said, ending with a chuckle.

Demande stood there just staring at him, feeling like there was something in his throat preventing him from making a sound. This was the first time Saphirr had spoken to him since that night, two weeks ago.

Saphir gestured over to their sofa.

"I think it's time we talked."

* * *

Author's Note- Merry Christmas everyone, hope everyone enjoys this chapter and stays tuned for the next one!


	14. Chapter 13-Forgiveness

"Please, sit." Sapphir gestured over to the couch.

Demand took his seat in the furthest possible area, while his mind was racing at what this would mean. Sapphir hadn't spoken to him in weeks, and when they had the inevitable encounters with each other, he would shoot him with the most detestable glares, that even Wiseman had never received. But since he hadn't seen him at all in the past few days, it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

When Sapphir sat across from him, he seemed eerily calm which could either mean that he was ready to accept his apology or break the news that he would finally leave him as he threatened before.

"I think this conversation has been long overdue. I for one, have found these weeks tiresome yet enlightening at the same time." Sapphir said.

He continued, "This planet; this new life we've acquired has taught me many things."

"Now that we're here, I am no longer bound to Nemesis nor our royal bloodline. I can go where I want and do as I please. I can finally be the one to determine my future and live outside my brother's shadow. I can finally think about what's best for me and live the way I choose to live and for the first time, I'm truly free."

Demande's pulse began to quicken. This was it. This was where his blood, his only link to his former life and home would leave him forever.

"I've allowed you to coerce me numerous times into things that were the opposite of what I thought was right and will continue to do so as long as I am with you. All because you were and are the only family I've ever had."

Demand continued to listen without interruption.

"When you allowed Wiseman to completely infiltrate our lives, I was suspicious of him from the beginning but, I said nothing. When you planned for us to go into the front lines in overthrowing Crystal Tokyo, even though I knew it was a losing battle, I still tried my best to make it successful. When you fell in love with the very one who oppressed our people, I disagreed with it, but once again, I stood by as you were willing to throw away all of our plans for her. All of this I did for you. "

Demande opened his mouth to say something, but his throat tightened and he was unable to make even a sound.

"However, in spite of all of this, you're the most important person to me and always have been. I don't want to hate you anymore." Sapphir said.

Tears began to well up in Demand's eyes that he tried to hold in. Finally his brother was willing to forgive him and he would no longer have to endure anymore of the loneliness he had been feeling.

"Thank you." He said to Sapphir. "So we forgive each other?"

"Yes." He replied. "However, don't misunderstand. I am no longer the little brother who will sit idly by. I think what you're doing is irresponsible and it's putting us both in danger. You say you have things under control and that she doesn't suspect anything but, I'm warning you that if that isn't so, then I will not hesitate to disappear without leaving any trace that leads to me, you understand?" Sapphir asked.

Demand nodded, "Yes, and I promise, you don't have to worry. She doesn't suspect a thing, I can assure you."

"Aside from that, what you're doing is playing with fate and can possibly affect the future of this entire planet." Sapphir pressed on.

Demand furrowed his brow, "How is that?"

"You desire the Queen, correct? You wish for her to fall in love with you, to marry you?"

Instead of answering his question, Demand shifted his gaze away from him and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I already know the answer because in some ways, I know you better than you know yourself. Once you want something, you go after it until it's yours. It's been that way since we were children."

Exasperated now Demand asked, "Just please answer the question."

"In the future, we know what is to happen. Sailor Moon will ascend the throne as Neo-Queen Serenity and will marry the King, which will lead to the birth of the Rabbit and the formation of Crystal Tokyo."

"Please spare me the details and get to the point." Demand said with impatience.

"When we originally planned to conquer Earth by sabotaging it's past, we created a divergence in the timeline that was laid out for us. Originally we were never apart of 20th century Tokyo and yet we not only made it there, but, made our presence known to them and introduced the planet to the Jakokusuishou not just once but, twice. Who knows what changes have already occurred."

Demand had never considered this before and for some unknown reason the girl from the arcade, Michiru, came to mind.

"Just think of what could happen if you get everything you want. If the Queen were to marry you instead of the King, a union that secured the future of this planet, it could be catastrophic. It could even mean Crystal Tokyo will cease to exist." Sapphir said.

"Good!" Demand said angrily. "Perhaps that's the way it should be. The world won't stop spinning if there isn't a Crystal Tokyo and I say it would be much better off without that unnatural place."

Sapphir started to chuckle. "Calm down, it's only a theory. Still unable to take any ounce of criticism, just like when we were kids."

Demand couldn't help but start to laugh as well.

"All I'm saying is, consider if it's all worth the risk. It could mean a darker future for both of us in the end." Sapphir said.

An awkward silence passed between them before Sapphir pulled something out of his jacket pocket.

"I have something for you." Sapphir said.

He laid two pieces of paper on their coffee table.

"Think of it as a sort of reconciliation present for the both of us. It is the weekend after all." Sapphir smiled.

Demande took the slips of paper and examined it closer. A sense of dread overcame him as he could see it was two tickets for Three Lights concert tomorrow.

"Thanks a lot." He said with fake enthusiasm. "How did you get ahold of them, I heard they're very difficult to come by."

"The university awarded them to me for making perfect scores on all my midterms. I was planning on giving them away at first because I had never heard of the Three Lights and pop music just doesn't appeal to me. But, it wasn't until I heard some cassette tapes of the featured act that I changed my mind." Sapphir said with a dreamy expression.

"Michiru Kaioh." Demande said.

"Yes, that's the one. Wow, you're more up to date on this than I am because I had no idea who either of them were but, I must say, that her music is quite exquisite. Have you heard it?" he asked.

"No, I've only just recently come to know about her." Demande said.

"You'll be in for a surprise, I'm certain of it." Sapphir commented.

"I have a feeling, I will." He agreed ominously.

"Well, I guess I should be off to bed, I have some stuff to take of at the university tomorrow, so I'm afraid I'll have to meet up with you at the venue later in the afternoon. Goodnight, Nii-san." Sapphir said.

It warmed Demande's heart to hear Sapphir call him that again.

"Brother, I'm glad that you've forgiven me and I appreciate you giving me your extra ticket." Demande told him.

Sapphir smiled and said in a low voice that only he, himself, could hear, "I'm glad _she_ helped me come to my senses.

* * *

 _The Day Before:_

Sapphir exited his final class with two tickets he had received earlier in the day from his professor in hand. A few of his classmates who he had started to become acquainted with, surrounded him buzzing with excitement.

"I can't believe the university was secretly keeping a pair of these tickets! If I had known they were planning on giving these out, I would've studied much harder!" Whined the sole female of the group, Naoko.

"Don't you already have a ticket, though?" asked another one of his classmates, Taketa.

"Yeah, but I had to practically spend my whole paycheck for it." She pouted.

"Forget it, you wouldn't have stood a chance anyway. Shinjiro always makes the top score in class." Said Taketa.

The third classmate, Matsuo, then asked Sapphir, "So, who are you planning on taking?"

Sapphir thought about it. Normally he would include his brother on an event such as this but, the feelings of betrayal were still as fresh as they were on the night he found out all that he had been keeping from him.

"I'm not sure. To be honest, I don't even know if I really want to go." He said glumly.

"No, you have to go!" Naoko protested. "You're literally the only one in the entire school who doesn't know who the Three Lights are. It's just not normal. Even Taketa and Matsuo are going!"

Matsuo rolled his eyes. "We're not going because of the Three Lights obviously."

"Michiru Kaioh, whose performing alongside them, is an excellent violinist, Shinjiro, I could see you being a fan of hers." Taketa said.

"And on top of that she's one of the most beautiful women in Juuban." Matsuo said with a slight blush.

Naoko proceeded to roll her eyes now.

As they walked out of the front doors of the university, they lingered at the bottom of the stairs to continue their conversation.

"I guess I can always go by myself and see you guys there." Sapphir said.

"That's the spirit!" Naoko cheered.

"I'll bring my cassette player with Michiru's tapes so you can familiarize yourself with some of her music before the concert." Taketa said.

"Oh great idea, I'll bring you my Three Lights tapes as well. They're number 1 in Japan right now, you know." Naoko further commented.

"I can already predict that you won't be a fan of _theirs."_ Matsuo said lowly in Sapphir's ear.

He chuckled in response.

"Shinjiro, I have a question for you." Taketa told him.

"What is it?" Sapphir said.

"Do you know her?" he asked him as he pointed in a distance.

A woman was half concealed behind a tree nearby, doing a poor job of keeping herself hidden as she looked on to the small group.

When Sapphir turned around to look at her, she quickly moved out of sight behind the tree but, he was able to catch a glimpse of her beforehand and knew exactly who it was.

"You can come out, Berthier." He called out to her.

She peeked out from behind the tree and stepped out, revealing her entire frame clearly embarrassed from getting caught.

"I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by to say hello." She said in a nervous giggle.

Sapphir's classmates looked to her then to each other in confusion. Both of the boys were blushing at how pretty and unique she was. Even Naoko was in awe of her.

"Shinjiro, is this your girlfriend?" Taketa asked him.

"I'm so envious." Matsuo mumbled.

Sapphir tensed and waved his hands defensively, "No, no, nothing like that. She's just someone I know."

"Hey, I'd say we're more familiar that that!" Berthier said, taking offense.

"Wait a minute, I recognize you now! You're Berthier Ayakashi, one of the owners from _Beauty Quartette,_ am I right?" Naoko commented.

"That's correct." She answered cheerfully.

"I knew it! I used to have terrible acne and after using your skin care, my acne not only went away, but my complexion has never been better!" Naoko said excitedly.

"Thank you so much, our goal is to accentuate the natural beauty that all women possess." Bethier said. "I hate to do this, but do you mind if I steal your friend, _Shinjiro,_ here for a little while?"

"Oh, it's no problem, I need to be heading home anyway." Naoko said.

"Guess I will too." Matsuo said.

"I'll be sure to bring the tapes for you tomorrow." Taketa told Sapphir.

"Don't worry, I'll bring mine too!" Naoko said.

Taketa rolled his eyes, "I'm sure he can't wait."

Naoko playfully shoved him as they all walked away and out of earshot leaving Berthier and Sapphir alone.

Sapphir didn't say anything just yet but, gave her a stern look.

"I know I promised that I wouldn't try to seek you out but, there was something that I needed to tell you." She said.

"You realize that if any of the senshi or even any of your sisters were to see us together that it could disrupt the only normalcy I have in my life right now? How did you even find me?" Sapphir asked.

"When you told me you were attending University, I found the one in the area that offered a major in pharmaceuticals and I sort of put two and two together." She nervously said.

He sighed, "Well I guess there's no helping it. What was it you needed to tell me?"

Berthier looked uncomfortable now, which could only mean the news wasn't good.

"Petz is moving out of the apartment in a couple months." She told him.

He paused at first then said, "Well, I didn't expect her to live there forever."

"She's moving in with that man."

A sharp pain pierced through his heart the moment she finished the sentence.

He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat before telling her, "Oh…Well, if that's what will make her happy then I support her decision."

"She'd be happier with you! I mean, yes, she cares for him but, the only reason she's doing it is because she thinks it will help get over losing you. You must reconsider this because I know one day you will regret it and I know for a fact that you love her still."

He shook his head, "There can't be a future between the two of us at this point. I'm doing what is best for her. I know he will make her happy."

Berthier sighed and folded her arms. "You're becoming a bit _too_ much of an Earthling for my taste. Both you and your brother."

"My brother?" Sapphir asked.

"Yes, that was something else I wanted to tell you. I saw Prince Deman-"

Before she finished her sentence, Sapphir placed two fingers on her lips.

"You mustn't ever say that name out loud. From now on, he is Tohru and I am Shinjiro." He told her.

"Sorry. I saw _Tohru_ for the first time the other day as I was walking to work."

Her eyes began to glaze over as if she was picturing the scene in her head.

"It was a windy day, so I was wearing a headscarf that covered my hair or there would be no doubt he would have recognized me, but it was on the busy streets that we passed each other as I was walking to the shop. It's funny, the only few times I had ever seen him face to face on Nemesis, he was sitting on his throne wearing the most lavishly tailored suit appearing nothing less than a Prince. But, here he was, loosening his tie, holding a briefcase in one hand and his coat in the other, walking in a hurried pace just like all the people around him. He happened to raise his head up from checking his watch and it was in that split second of seeing his face, that I knew it was him even though his hair and eye color were different."

She continued as she clasped her hands together, "Even though he is restricted to the dull fashions of the 20th century, he still had the same regality that emitted from him from back then."

Sapphir eyed her. "You talk about him in such a way that one might think you're…"

Berthier giggled and waved off what he was about to say, "I'm afraid, each of us sisters had our own unrealistic fantasies..mine being so ridiculous that I could never say it out loud. But, it's okay that was in the past and I've found the man of my dreams." She then held out her hand that displayed a diamond ring on one of her fingers.

Sapphir, without meaning to, darkened his expression at the mention of his brother.

"What is it?" she said as she noticed his sudden shift in mood.

"He and I aren't exactly on good terms right now." He told her.

"Oh, it's normal. Living in such a busy world can affect even the strongest of bonds. If I could count the number times my sisters and I have bickered." Berthier said.

"This is different." Sapphir said somberly.

He didn't know why he was telling her this, because he wouldn't be able to reveal to her the true reason they were quarreling with each other but, it was bottling up inside so much that he needed to tell someone who could understand.

"I'm considering living apart from him." He continued.

Berthier's mouth dropped open.

"But you can't! You'll be all alone, and _he'll_ be all alone. As much as you might think you blend in to this century, there's still so much to learn. My sisters and I have lived here almost 3 years now and there's still surprises we run into every now and then."

"We've managed to make it this far. I just don't think I can ever forgive him for this…" he said before trailing off.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It's nothing I can say." He answered.

"But it's an issue that won't ever be able to be fixed and despite it straining the so called bond we share, he's set in his ways and won't ever put my feelings into consideration. I don't see why I should care so much for someone who's as selfish as he is. I wish he'd just go away and never come back." He said while closing his eyes and tightening his fist in anger.

Had they been open, he would have been able to see the tears that began to well up in Berthier's eyes.

She then embraced Sapphir and buried her face into his chest before letting out a soft cry.

He relaxed his grip and gently wrapped his arms around her.

"Why are you letting everything you love slip away from you?" she asked.

She raise her head to where their eyes met as more tears trailed down her cheeks.

"Will you not allow yourself to love anyone?"

"Berthier, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just think maybe him and I would be better living apart that's all. People do it all the time. You and Koan realized this and it seems you all get along just fine." He told her.

"It's just that when I look into your eyes, I see a loneliness that saddens me, it was the same with your brother back on Nemesis as well. You both need each other more than you think. Especially in these times which are not as peaceful as they appear…" she said.

He let go of her now as she rubbed her eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, alarmed by the statement.

"I didn't want to mention it, but there have been rumors from people around town in the last few months claiming to have seen monsters. At first I brushed this off as nonsense, but a lot of the stories have similarities to the times we would send the Droids to Earth and on top of that, I've been able to sense faint traces of dark energy here and there."

"If there was any new threats, wouldn't the Senshi let you know about it?" he asked.

"I'm afraid with the time our business takes up, it's seldom we see them much anymore. But, even so, the senshi usually don't relay information like that to us because they don't want to burden us with it. They didn't even tell us about the battles with Pharoah 90 and Queen Nehelenia until after the fact but, we knew about it all along and I'm getting a similar feeling now as I had in those times."

"I don't understand something though, the data on Nemesis that I had gathered up on 20th century Tokyo revealed only one battle that had taken place until the Queen ascended the throne and that was between the senshi and Queen Beryl. Not this Nehelenia you speak of." Sapphir argued.

"I'm afraid not. You must have missed something in your research because many new components have been added since the last time you were here." Berthier said.

"But there's no way. There would have been some documentation I could have dug up or…" Sapphir couldn't finish his thought.

"I wouldn't have ever told you any of this if I hadn't thought it important. We are all powerless now and wouldn't be of help to them so all we could do in this time is have faith in the senshi and keep our loved ones close to us in case it may be our last days of true peace." Berthier continued, "Whatever happened between you and the Prince can be resolved after we know we're safe."

Sapphir pondered this.

He had been so assured in knowing every event that would take place from the present time leading onto the future that they had all lived in. Had he been so blind to the things going on around him due to the confidence in his work?

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have told you this." Bertier said interrupting his thoughts.

"No, I'm glad you did. This does change everything." He place his hands on her shoulders. "But I also must insist that you not pay me any random visits anymore, at least for the time being."

"I know I promised not to but, a part of me can't help wishing we could all reunite again and live in the 20th century Tokyo together." She said in disappointment.

Sapphir smiled gently, "One day we just might. I am glad you came to me today, Berthier, you made me realize what's truly at stake here."

They embraced in one last hug before parting ways.

* * *

 _The Evening of the Concert:_

Demande had slept the night before more soundly than he had in weeks. With his brother, back in his good graces along with his progress with Usagi, he felt more invigorated than he ever had before.

This was how things were meant to be and soon he would have everything he had ever wanted in his grasp.

He spent most of the day continuing to harness the power of the black crystal since Sapphir was to meet him later at the concert. Both the ruby and the emerald continued to show no signs of any life force which was strange because Demande in some ways felt he was more in tune with his power than he had ever been, even back on Nemesis. Will he have to rid himself of this newfound power if there is indeed, no way to bring back Rubeus and Esmeraude? It made him wonder if it would really be such a bad thing for the black crystal to exist if it can be used for good instead of evil.

After exiting the secret room, not feeling as tired as he used to, he looked at the clock only to realize that he had completely lost track of time and needed to make it over to the venue immediately.

The concert was still a half an hour from starting by the time he arrived which gave him enough time to be able to find Sapphir amongst the crowd of people.

"Nii-san!" he heard someone yell in the distance.

Demande saw Sapphir rushing towards him.

"I'm glad I found you in time, we need to find our seats before it gets too crowded." Sapphir said.

Demande nodded in agreement.

The venue was packed with people with a building excitement that was almost overwhelming for the both of them. It was hard to distinguish the seat numbers as everyone was still up and about, walking through out the stands, which caused Sapphir to glance back every once in a while to make sure they hadn't been separated.

"I think that's the row, we're supposed to be in." Sapphir pointed ahead.

"Good eye." Demande replied. "It would have taken me all night to find it in this dense crowd."

"Since we have some time, do you mind if we head back near the entrance for a short while? There's some people I promised to meet with that I'd like to introduce you to." Sapphir asked.

"Oh?" Demande reacted. "Alright then."

As the brothers, made their way to their destination, Sapphir waved to a group of people who waved back in return.

"Shinjiro, you made it!" a few of them simultaneously called out.

He laughed in return, "I didn't want to let these tickets go to waste. Besides, I did enjoy the tapes you lent me."

"I knew you would!" his friend, Naoko said cheerfully.

His other friend Taketa groaned and rolled his eyes, "He's not talking about _your_ tapes."

The third friend Matsuo laughed along with Sapphir.

Demande stood quietly as his friends introduced the additional people that they brought with them: Naoko's roommate along with some mutual friends of Taketa and Matsuo's. Afterwards was when all attention pointed to Demande.

"I'd like you to meet my brother, Tohru. He'll possibly be joining us next year at Kitasato. " Sapphir said to them all.

The two girls blushed while the rest seem to marvel at his tall stature.

"Nice to meet you." Everyone said.

Naoko and her roommate rushed close to him, blatantly studying his features.

"You have an unusual look like Shinjiro." Naoko said.

"Is that so?" he said with a slight chuckle, uncomfortable with them gawking at him like that.

"If you're half as smart as Shinjiro, you're sure to be a success." Taketa exclaimed.

"Believe it or not, he's even smarter." Sapphir gloated.

"No way, that's impossible." Matsuo said, awestruck.

"Shinjiro, you're exaggerating." Demande said.

"He's just being modest. You guys will find out next year." Sapphir said.

"Your hair is so blonde!" Naoko's roommate said in amazement.

"Can we touch it?" Naoko asked.

"Oh-um. Sure." Demande answered nervously.

Each girl took a lock of the light, blonde strands and ran it through their fingers as Demande awkwardly stood by.

"Wow these earrings you're wearing are so beautiful!" Naoko said, noticing them as she lifted the long hair.

Sapphir overheard this and moved closer to see that he was indeed wearing his black crystal earrings.

Demande backed up suddenly, causing the two girls to let go of his hair.

"Th-Thanks." He mumbled to them.

"You must be in a band or something." the roommate commented.

"A model maybe?" Naoko followed.

Demande smiled politely, "Nothing as glamorous as that. I just work for a school."

"Shinjiro mentioned that you both were adopted and raised in Japan but, didn't say where you were originally from." Naoko said.

Before Demande could respond, Sapphir joined in the conservation.

"Well, neither of us actually know where we came from, our parents told us the adoption agency had no record of our place of birth….."

All of a sudden Demande's head started to pound. Sapphir's conversation seem to fade out along with the rest of the noise in the mass of people and a strange feeling began to overcome him that he wasn't able to grasp. Time felt as if it was slowing down and his vision was dimming, yet he still stood on his two feet appearing normal to the rest of the people around him but he felt strange, as if he wasn't in control of his body.

"Gornozavodsk" the word escaped him.

Everyone stopped and looked at each other in confusion.

"Where did you say?" Naoko asked.

Normality returned to Demande again when he saw the group of Sapphir's friends staring at him, unaware of what he just said.

Sapphir then forced a laugh.

"Tohru was just making a joke, he has a strange sense of humor sometimes."

"I see." Naoko said, laughing along as if she was the only one who got it.

"It looks like the show's about to start, we should probably head to our seats." Matsuo said abruptly.

Taketa checked his watch. "You're right, it's starting soon. Hey Shinjiro, we're all meeting for drinks afterwards, would you and your brother like to join?"

Sapphir looked to his brother, before Demande gave an approving nod.

"We'll be there." He told his friends.

"See you then!" Taketa replied.

"It was nice meeting you!" Naoko and her roommate waved to Demande.

When everyone seemed to be out of earshot, Sapphir finally turned to him.

"What was that all about and why are you wearing the earrings, I thought we agreed to not to overdo it on our powers." He scolded Demande.

"I'm sorry, I worked on growing the black crystal all day and I must've forgotten to take them off when I rushed to get here." He removed the earrings and put them in his pocket.

"As for the other thing, I don't know what made me say the word I said, whatever it was. I must just be more tired from today than I thought." Demande said while rubbing his temples.

"We don't have to go with them afterwards if you're not feeling well, I know I kind of put you on the spot." Sapphir told him.

"Not at all, they all seem very nice and I'm glad that you're making friends, I really am." He assured him.

They both started to walk to their seats.

"You're allowed to make some friends too, you know." Sapphir said to him.

"Nonsense, I've made plenty of friends of my own." Demande replied.

"Like, who?" Sapphir said with a smirk.

"Well there's…." he thought about it but other than Sapphir, he only was only close with Usagi and he couldn't exactly mention that aloud.

"There's…" he continued.

"Tohru-chan!" a voice sang in a melody as a woman tapped on his shoulder from behind.

When he turned around, he was greeted with a smile from his coworker and a young girl.

"Miss Kurogane-san, it's nice to see you." He smiled in return.

"I'm surprised you're here. I knew it, you're actually a closeted fan of the Three Lights like I am!" she said excitedly.

"I thought closeted meant that you actually tried to hide the fact." He told her.

The young girl next to her giggled.

"My brother actually had an extra ticket and brought me along." He turned to Sapphir. "Shinjiro, this is one of my colleagues and _friends,_ Ann Kurogane." He said with emphasis.

"Pleasure to meet you." He replied.

Sapphir was actually surprised that Demande was acting so comfortable with an attractive woman such as this.

"The pleasure's all mine." She said.

She then turned to the young girl, "Isn't he a cutie, Chie?"

"Onee-san" the girl blushed.

"Chie's my little sister. A third year at Juuban Middle, hopefully if she studies hard enough for her entrance exam, we'll be seeing her around the school by next Spring."

"Excellent. I wish you the best of luck on your exams." Demande said with a charming smile.

"Thank you." Chie said nervously before bowing.

"I guess we need to find our seats while there's still time. We'll have to discuss the concert on Monday, hm?"

"Most definitely. You both have a wonderful evening." Demande said to them.

Miss Kurogane and her sister wished them goodbye before walking towards the back of the venue.

Demande and Sapphir finally went to sit down since there was minimal time left before the show. He wondered if Usagi was here yet and where she was sitting at. He supposed it was best to keep his distance from her while he was here with Sapphir since he didn't want to spoil their newfound reconciliation. However, as the crowd started to become reckless, he couldn't shake the feeling that something incredible was going to occur on this night. What was it that made him feel this way?

It was then that a strange energy was detected by Demande, causing him to scan the enormous audience around him. This energy was familiar to him but not so familiar that he was able to pinpoint where he knew this energy from. There was so many people that it was hard to detect it's source, but just a few rows over, he noticed a lady short in stature wearing a black, pinstriped suit with white hair peeking out from beneath her fedora. It was nighttime, yet she was wearing sunglasses which he found rather odd.

Where had he seen this peculiar lady before?

He tried to remember but, his head was so cloudy still from the black crystal that nothing came to him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" boomed a loud voice calling from the speakers.

"It's starting!" Sapphir said excitedly to Demande, breaking his concentration.

The booming voice continued, "The moment you all have been waiting for has finally arrived! Introducing first our featured act, Miss Michiru Kaioh!"

Michiru graced the stage in a lovely dress carrying her signature violin before she bowed to the audience.

The crowd's cheers echoed from within the venue.

Sapphir leaned over to Demande, "Matsuo wasn't kidding when he said she was beautiful, huh? Who knew someone with her looks could be so talented."

Demande tensed up when looking at her and for a split second, could've sworn she made eye contact him. But that was impossible.

"And finally, introducing Japan's number one group whose hits have topped the charts for months now, give it up for Yaten, Taiki and Seiya of the Three Lights!"

Each of them walked out with all of their instruments and bowed to the crowd as well, standing next to Michiru.

The crowd really went wild at this point.

Demande looked back to that tiny lady, still standing stoically with her arms folded, not acting like the rest of the fan crazed audience. He looked back up to the stage with the feeling of foreboding overtaking him and his heart began to race. What was going to happen tonight, he wondered.

The announcer spoke one last time, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present to you the Three Lights featuring Michiru Kaioh, let the show begin!"

* * *

 _Author's Note: Thank you all for the feedback I've been receiving and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one!_


	15. Chapter 14-A True Star Seed

"Ladies and gentleman, put your hands together to welcome the Three Lights featuring the lovely Michiru Kaioh!"

As the announcer walked off the stage, the audience roared with cheers and applause around Demande and Sapphir who remained still as they just simply stood and watched.

The lights gradually dimmed until darkness fell all around them causing the cheers to eventually fall into complete silence. The only thing Demande was able to hear now was the unevenness of his own breathing.

Just then, the loud crack of a single spotlight broke the dead silence as it illuminated on to Michiru who took center stage. Her hair was worn loose and wavy as usual but she adorned a fitted white dress accentuating her mature figure and stood poised with her violin positioned and ready to play.

She looked out into the audience then closed her eyes before drawing the bow, opening the concert with a melodic solo that was one of the most beautiful pieces of music Demande had ever heard. The sound drew both him and Sapphir in along with the rest of the crowd, with it still being completely silent in the audience.

Another spotlight then appeared beside her with Taiki on keyboard, another with Yaten playing bass and then lastly, Seiya on guitar who added to the melody. The mood of the music changed with the energy coming alive again and the crowd started to cheer once more.

As much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, Demande actually found that they were quite good with their instruments and it coincided well with her violin. The lighting began to change to different colors that did so in the same rhythm of the music, which was a fascinating touch.

But as the performance continued on, he started to notice something.

The four of them all gave off an aura that seemed to be feeding off of one another before being pushed outward to the crowd, and then to the sky, and even out to the stars. It was one of the bizarre things he had ever encountered before. The normal humans in the audience wouldn't have been able to register it in the same way he had, but as the concert continued, it was evident that there was some kind of message they were trying to send with their music. It was hard to pinpoint which energy was whose at this point.

Demande looked to Sapphir whose demeanor hadn't changed as he still seemed to be watching the performance calmly. He wondered if he too, noticed it.

Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he would be able to detect what is was they were trying to say.

He focused with great intensity, trying to find clarity in the signal they were sending but it was difficult. So, he didn't decided that instead of focusing on the group as a whole, that he would focus solely on Michiru. That was when at that moment, he could have sworn that her eyes met his, singling him out of the hundreds of people that were there.

It was so brief that he was unsure if it really happened so he eventually brushed it off, thinking that it could have just been his imagination. But he was curious as to what connection these people had to each other. He was now certain that they were unlike the rest of these people in the same way that he and Sapphir were.

And now, he made it his mission to find out who they _really_ are.

The encore performance finally came and finished with Michiru and the Three Lights giving one last bow to the crowd as they let out their final shouts of adoration, even himself and Sappir gave an enthusiastic round of applause.

After they walked off the stage, the lights came back on and everyone began to rise up from their seats to leave.

Sapphir turned to Demande.

"The show was quite splendid I thought." he commented to Demande.

"It was unlike anything I had ever experienced, that's for certain." Demande replied.

He wanted to know if Sapphir had picked up that energy at all but couldn't come right out and ask.

"Did you find anything peculiar about the concert at all?" Demande bluntly asked.

"Peculiar?" Sapphir answered.

"Maybe something that sort of took you by surprise?" he pressed on.

"Well…actually…" Sapphir started to say.

Demande leaned in close to him, "Yes?"

"I never anticipated someone with skills such as hers to turn out to be as beautiful as she was." Sapphir said with his cheeks giving a slight blush.

Demande gave an exhale of relief before giving a chuckle. "Same here I suppose."

They rose from their seats and as they turned to head toward the entrance, Demande happened to catch a glimpse of the tiny white haired lady scurrying towards the door in a clear hurry. He had forgotten all about her once the concert began but he was still as intent as ever in finding out who she was as well.

"Everyone's planning on meeting up outside the front entrance, that is, if they haven't gotten lost in this dense crowd." Sapphir chuckled.

Demande not having heard him, continued to follow her movements, contemplating on going after her.

"Nii-san?"

Demande heard him this time but didn't take his eyes off of her.

"Shinjiro, why don't you go find your friends while I go look at some of the merchandise they're selling?"

"Oh, it's no big deal, they'll wait for us. I'd like to see it as well." He said gleefully.

"Well..it's just.." Demande started to say.

Demande, still concentrating on the woman, saw that she hurried even faster, eventually slipping out of the seating area and was now out of his sight.

' _Damn._ ' He thought.

"It's just that it'll be quicker if you find them first while I save us a spot in line." He told Sapphir, appearing somewhat flustered.

"Oh…alright then." Sapphir said looking questioningly at Demande.

"Great, I'm going to hurry so I can get as close to the front as possible." He said before quickly leaving Sapphir behind.

"I'll see you in a…bit!" Sapphir started to call out. But it was useless, Demande was already out of earshot.

Sapphir knew that there was something 'off' about his behavior just now. He too, was able to channel that mysterious energy that was emitting during the performance but didn't want to confirm it to his brother. It seems there was something to what Berthier had told him the other day about there possibly being a new presence here on Earth. For some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to let his brother know about this even though it was clear that Demande could see right through it.

There were three distinct energy's he could feel. Two were on the stage while a faint one was coming from somewhere in the crowd. The largest one that came from the stage was trying to communicate with someone; someone they were trying to find. He unfortunately was unable to determine who exactly it was coming from. However, it was the weaker one that was in the audience that concerned him above all others. It was dark and gave him an ominous foreboding feeling.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen tonight that would change everything. He knew he needed to find his friends and then his brother as soon as possible.

* * *

Through the countless faces in the crowd, it was difficult to find a woman who was as small as she was but Demande was determined. He continued in the direction he last saw her in, aggressively shoving past people while getting a few angry shouts in return.

The energy became so faint at this point that eventually the trail went completely cold and he ran into a dead end.

"Dammit!" he said aloud in irritation.

When he turned around, he realized that he was in a vacant part of the venue that he didn't recognize. He was so focused on finding that lady that he hadn't paid attention to where he was even going.

He decided to just retrace his steps and locate Sapphir but, as he was on his way to do so, he felt a sudden spike of this strange energy coming from one of the doors in the hallway he was currently walking through. This was it, he had finally caught up to her.

Without hesitation he quickly turned and burst through the door.

To his surprise, it wasn't the white haired lady behind the door, but, rather Michiru.

She was sitting in front of a large, vanity mirror, staring up at him with the handheld mirror she always had with her in her hand.

One would think she would be alarmed with the way he came barging in like that, but her demeanor was calm and eventually she gently laid the mirror down and turned back to him.

The energy he had felt only seconds before, suddenly disappeared.

"I-I'm so sorry, I was looking for someone and thought she might be in here!" he said in a flustered manner.

"Do you always go looking for people in restricted sections Mister Satoshi-san?" Michiru asked.

"Restricted? I had no idea, I swear." He said honestly.

"You must have been in quite the hurry, to be able to slip past security like that." She said.

He tried to recall, but he had been so concentrated on that small lady's energy that he supposed he might have.

Michiru gave a faint smile and then continued, "Funny that you would check a room labled 'Kaioh Dressing Room' to look for this person."

Demande blushed. "Honestly, I hadn't even paid attention. She's this white haired lady that's short in stature, wearing sunglasses and a black business suit, have you seen her by any chance?"

"I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone fitting that description around here." She replied.

"I see." He said in disappointment. "I'll take my leave then. I apologize once again and hope you don't think of me so negatively after this."

"Wait." She called to him.

He stopped and looked back towards her.

"How did you like the show?" Michiru asked.

"I enjoyed myself, you're quite the virtuoso." He replied.

"Thank you. Normally I am far from nervous when I play, but, tonight was different for some reason." She mused.

"Well I couldn't tell. You exuded nothing but confidence on stage." He replied.

He noticed a clock hanging nearby. Nearly a half an hour had passed since the concert ended.

"I'm sorry, my brother is waiting for me, so I must be going now. Good evening to you." He nodded to her before turning to the door once again.

"Usagi is very important to all us, you know." She said to him out nowhere.

Demande turned and eyed her curiously.

"She is delicate and gullible like a small kitten that could easily find herself being snatched up and in the clutches of a wolf without her knowing it."

He then furrowed his brows, "Are you saying that I'm 'a wolf'?"

She shook her head. "All I'm saying is that we will be watching her closely and will do everything to ensure she is safe."

"As will I." he replied bitterly.

She gave him an acknowledging smile.

"There's something else." She told him.

"Yes?" he said.

She got up from her chair and walked towards him.

The scent of rose petals filled his senses and he became suddenly nervous.

When she was close enough, she turned her back to him and lifted her wavy hair, exposing the back of her neck.

"Before you leave, I was wondering if you assist me in helping me with my dress, I'm afraid the zipper is being stubborn." She looked back to him in a seducing manner, then looked forward again.

He was hesitant at first but then found his hand moving toward it without thinking.

As he started to undue the zipper, he once again felt that trace of dark energy which brought him back to reality. He had to seize it before it would disappear again.

"I'm sorry, I-I have to go." He brought his hand back and quickly exited the room.

* * *

The dark aura that he had sensed grew stronger, and eventually led him outside, back where the arena was where they had performed. By now there was no one left inside.

It was hard to believe how empty this place was now compared to earlier and wondered if Sapphir had figured out by now that he wasn't waiting in line like he had told him. No doubt he was furious with him.

He did noticed one bystander in the arena still. An older gentlemen, wearing a tuxedo was standing on the stage and looking out into the empty stands. Demande recognized him as the main conductor of the concert as he had close enough seats to tell.

The dark aura was quite heavy in this area yet all he could see was the old man, mumbling to himself and rubbing his head looking angry about something.

Just then, someone approached the man from behind.

As Demande moved his way closer to him, staying out of sight, he could see that it was the lady he had been searching for.

She said something to him that he was unable to hear but could see she was struggling to look for something inside her suit pockets.

After letting out an exacerbated groan on her end, she then ripped off the business suit and sunglasses she was wearing, revealing another outfit she had been wearing underneath which took the man by surprise as much as it did Demande.

She was wearing a poofy white costume and without her hat and glasses, she wasn't a tiny older woman like he had assumed this whole time but rather a young girl. The old man began to stand back in confusion when she took a stance and brought up her arms that had large gold bracelets on each one.

"Give me your star seed!" he could clearly hear her call out to the old man.

Two orbs of light glowed from each one before shooting out towards him.

The conductor was suddenly engulfed in the light as he screamed in agony. Then, just as quickly as the light came, it soon disappeared.

A gem appeared to come out of him that contained a light within itself and the man immediately fell unconscious.

The girl seemed pleased and was 'ooohing and aweing' over it's splendid glow.

Seconds later the gem's glow faded and turned completely black, with the girl's mood turning into that of disappointment.

"Awe it's just a normal one." She pouted.

Hardly given time to react to this, a voice called out to them that he couldn't ever mistake.

"Hold it right there!"

Sailor moon appeared from the door that led backstage and made her way towards the incapacitated old man and the young girl.

As Sailor Moon gave her introductory speech, the girl appeared to be completely ignoring her and instead, began to walk away towards the exit in a calm manner.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going, Sailor Iron Mouse?!" Sailor Moon called out.

"I don't have time to play with you today." Sailor Iron Mouse replied.

She snapped her fingers and continued to walk away.

As Sailor Moon started after her, a dark ball of energy appeared above the old man and wrapped itself all around him. When it disappeared, the old man was now transformed into a droid-like creature and started to attack Sailor Moon.

Sailor Conductor, as he introduced himself, started to attack Sailor Moon in instrument themed attacks, throwing violin bows at her like a game of darts. He was conflicted because she was alone out there without any of her fellow senshi and he wanted to help her but was afraid it would reveal himself.

The creature had eventually trapped Sailor Moon into a corner and shot another bow, this time traveling directly towards her.

"Star Serious Laser!" a voice called out.

That was when a light source intercepted bow, knocking it down to the ground.

He looked to the source of the attack and was relieved to know that the three leather clad senshi he saw that time back at the school had shown up.

"Breaking through the darkness of the night…Traveling unchained across the atmosphere…The three sacred shooting stars!"

"Sailor Star Fighter!" the black haired leader called out.

"Sailor Star Maker!" the tall, brunette called.

"Sailor Star Healer!" the white haired, pretty one lastly called out.

"Sailor Starlights!" they all shouted together. "Stage On!"

Now that they were here, she'd be able to have the help she needed and this was his only chance to catch up to this 'Sailor Iron Mouse' and deal with her in his way.

Demande looked towards them one last time. "Please, keep her safe." He said quietly before leaving.

* * *

He took off through one of the exits that she had walked out of and ran as fast as he could toward the dark energy which was much easier this time since it was at it's peak and not faint as it was earlier.

It led him to a clearing that had trees sparsely placed in the area, where he found her pacing back and forth, clearly frustrated at her failed attempt at whatever it was she was trying to gain.

"Galaxia-sama already warned me that if I screwed up again, I was done for. And those bitches Iron-Crow and Aluminum-Siren are going to be so smug about it too, I just know it." She then started to run her hands frantically through her hair, "Gah! This pisses me off!"

She sat still, thinking really hard, he could tell.

"I know!" she perked up, "I'll tell Galaxia-sama that I know for sure this time who the next target is, then she'll have to at least let me have one more chance."

Demande reached in his pocket and put on his black crystal earrings.

"If I hurry now, I can research on who will be the carrier of the perfect star seed."

She then summoned a telephone booth that appeared out of nowhere and although he didn't have a plan, he knew that this was his only chance to act.

When she closed the booth's door behind her, she was alarmed to find that Prince Demande had teleported inside the booth with her.

"Going up?" he quipped.

"What the-who are you? Earthlings aren't able to see this phone booth, what's going on?!" she shouted.

"I want you to take me to who's in charge. Now." He told her.

"Like hell I will!" she exclaimed.

She brought her gold bracelets together and a glow, that same glow he saw before, started to form in each one. But soon enough, they ended up disappearing.

Shock spread over her face.

"Th-This has never happened before, I don't understand!" She said in a panic.

"I'm not going to say it again. Take me to your superior now."

His third eye appeared on his forehead, and she couldn't help but look up at it, getting trapped in it's hypnotic effect.

The pupils of her eyes disappeared and she stared blankly up at him.

"Yes, Prince Demande-sama." She said cooperatively.

The phone booth then disappeared into the night.

* * *

Immediately, they had reached their destination, if one could call it that.

When he stepped out of the phone booth, he could hardly believe the place they were in, it was indescribable.

There was no floor, no ceiling, no set of boundaries at all. When he looked down at his feet, it was as if he was floating in space itself, yet he could feel that his feet were planted on an invisible ground. Everywhere he turned showed thousands, if not millions of stars that spanned endlessly in every direction.

Where in the world was this place?

"Sailor Iron Mouse, what is the meaning of this?" called a woman's voice.

Sailor Iron Mouse's eyes were still glazed over in a daze, but began to regain life in them once she heard the woman's voice. It took her a few moments to register what was going on around her and once she did, she started to panic.

She rushed out of the phone booth and dropped to her knees as the phone booth disappeared behind her.

"Ma-Madame Galaxia-sama, please let me explain…" Iron Mouse pleaded.

"Not only have you failed in collecting a single true Star Seed since arriving on Earth, but now you have the audacity to bring an outsider to my lair?!" the woman's voice grew louder.

Demande now could see that among all stars, in a distance sat a woman on a throne.

She wore an outfit that was almost similar to that of the senshi's, but, it was made from gold, like it was armored. Her beauty was beyond an Earth woman's, however, the first thing he picked up from her was her powerful demeanor that was so intense, it was frightening even to him.

There was no doubt, she was the leader.

He could then hear giggling coming from both sides of them. When he looked around, he noticed two figures that he was only able to make out the silhouette of. After concentrating further, each of their eyes glowed back at him, one with the color of red and the other, the color blue.

The giggling continued, "How _will_ she ever get out of this one, I wonder." One of them said.

"It's so pathetic, I can hardly watch." The other one replied.

"Galaxia-sama, I don't know how it happened! He appeared out of thin air into the phone booth, which you yourself stated that no mortal Earthling would be able to see and then somehow he forced me to take him here. I tried to eliminate him with the gold armlets but, for some reason they wouldn't work, I swear!" Sailor Iron said.

"It is not that the armlets don't work, it is simply that you are weak!"

Sailor Iron Mouse bowed her head to the ground and started to whimper.

"I will deal with you shortly!" Galaxia said before turning her attention toward Demande.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Demande was completely unprepared for what was to come.

"My name is Tohru." He replied.

"Lies." She said.

"No, it's not, that is my name." he countered.

"That is not your real name. You are in my territory now so you will drop this façade. Step forward!" she commanded.

He did as she asked, walking towards her until she signaled him to stop.

"Just as I thought." She said to him.

He didn't know what she meant until he looked down at his feet and curiously enough, he wasn't wearing the same shoes as he was wearing before. As he looked to his pants, then arms and chest, he found that he wasn't wearing the clothes he came in at all, but rather his white suit that he always wore on Nemesis. As his hair fell into his face, he noticed that is was no longer blonde but his natural, white color.

"Now, I'll ask you for the last time. Who are you? I know that you are no ordinary Earthling." She said impatiently.

He saw no point in hiding the truth.

"You're right, I am not from Earth originally. I come from a planet I governed over that no longer exists…or rather hasn't existed yet. You see, I'm not from this time as well and I now live in this century because I am unable to go back to my time. I know it's an incredible story but…"

"No need to say anymore, I believe you." She said uninterestedly.

She appeared bored now and brought up a gem in her hand that had a luminous glow to it, she started to look at it and could tell it mesmerized her.

Demande recognized it because it resembled the same gem that Sailor Iron Mouse brought out of the conductor. But, this gem's glow was far more beautiful and as he looked around, he could now see that what he thought were stars all around them was actually thousands of those tiny gems that held the same intensity to that of actual stars.

"Might I ask what these jewels are that surround us?" he asked her.

"They are not the jewels, to call them that is an insult." She then raised the one she was holding higher as if to display it. "These are Star Seeds."

"Star Seeds?" he asked.

"It is the life source of a person or even an object that has been crystallized into a form such as this. Without it, the person will cease to exist. This one, I had acquired when I first came to this planet and is by far my most favorite and precious Star Seed." She looked to it affectionately.

"Here, behold it's magnificence." She threw it towards him.

"Madam Galaxia, you shouldn't, this man clearly can't be trusted!" Sailor Iron Mouse interjected.

"Silence!" she shouted back to her. "How much of a fool do you think I am?"

Sailor Iron Mouse bowed her head to the ground once again.

Demande caught it and held the aura surrounding it in both his hands. The light of it was almost blinding and there was definitely something much different about it than the two he had seen before.

What Earthling could this have possibly belonged to for it to give off a light such as this, he wondered.

Just then a vision came to him.

The horrified looked of a man's face that grew closer, then closer, then closer now to where he could see that it was…

He couldn't believe it. This Star Seed belonged to King Endymion!

He was so overcome with shock that he had even realized that she had summoned the Star Seed back towards her and that he was holding nothing but air.

"Beautiful, isn't it." Galaxia commented.

"I heard you say something about a 'true Star Seed', is that what this is?" he asked her.

"Yes." She replied.

"And what do you do with them, once you have them?"

"Once I have collected what I need, I will be able to revive our long lost master. When I have collected all that Earth has to offer, I will move on to the next planet. A few sacrifices, yes, but all for a great cause." She said.

"Why are you telling me all this?" he asked her.

She smiled at him deviously.

"Because you will never leave this place here alive."

She then set the star see aside and raised her arms up towards him, showing the gold armlets that wrapped around her wrists.

He took a step back and felt a panic surge through him.

Sailor Iron Mouse peaked her head up while the two, black figures continued to giggle.

"I could have killed you immediately but, you reminded me somewhat of myself, a lonely traveler that crossed the galaxy in search of a new way of life. Only, you ended up at the wrong place in the wrong time. Don't be sad, you will go to the grave with knowledge that no other mortal man will ever possess and that is my farewell gift to you."

The armlets began to form the glowing orbs inside each of them and he braced himself for what would happen next as he closed his eyes and shielded himself with his cape.

Moments passed, but nothing happened.

"What's this?" she said to herself.

He looked up to find that the glowing orbs had disappeared.

"That!" Sailor Iron Mouse pointed at her. "That's the same thing that happened to me!"

Galaxia looked to Demande.

"You…are a child of Chaos." She told him.

"A child of what?" he asked her in confusion.

Both the figures and Sailor Iron Mouse gasped at the same time.

"Interesting…" Galaxia said in delight.

"I don't understand, who is this, _Chaos_." Demande asked again.

"It is no matter. He wishes for me to spare your life and that is what I must do." She replied.

"Just like that? What does all of this mean?" He asked impatiently.

"It means that as long as you stay out of my way, you will be spared from what is to come as well as anyone who carries the same blood as you." She said.

She summoned the phone booth that immediately spawned behind him.

"This will take you back to where you came from, but you will never enter this place again. Be lucky that because of who you are, you will live to see another day." Galaxia told him.

"Please tell me what-" Demande started to say.

He stopped midsentence as his head began to pound ruthlessly and his vision became foggy. The earrings of the Jakokusuishou that he was still wearing started to glow on and off uncontrollably and he started to lose himself again just as he had before the concert started.

Galaxia leaned forward in anticipation, unaware of what was happening as did the rest.

She noticed that whatever was causing his pain stopped and he lifted his head up and seemingly regained his composure.

There was a noticeable change in his demeanor. The earrings that were dull and black before, glowed a bright purple as did his eyes.

"Tell our master that Prince Demande of Nemesis gives his thanks and will do his best to ensure that his reign will come once again."

Galaxia looked at him in surprise but then smiled her devious smile once again and replied, "That's more like it."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I seemed to have overstayed my welcome, it's been a pleasure." He bowed towards Galaxia and walked inside the phone booth before it disappeared from the unknown place.

Galaxia began to laugh maniacally and then turned her attention toward Sailor Iron Mouse.

"Now…what to do with you."


	16. Chapter 15-The Outer Senshi

"Nii-san, wake up." A faint voice called to him.

Demande was unresponsive at first but jerked awake when he felt his shoulders being violently shaken.

His vision was fuzzy, but once it cleared, he managed to recognize the outline of his brother standing over him.

"Sapphir.." he mumbled.

"Shh." Sapphir said pressing his finger over his mouth.

"What's going on, where am I?" Demande asked.

"We're outside the arena. Something's happened, you must get up now." He told him in a hurried tone.

Demande forced himself up but winced when he felt his entire body ache with pain.

He honestly couldn't remember how he got there, as if he awoke from a dream and couldn't quite recount the details from it. How long had he been lying here like this, he wondered.

"What do you mean?" he asked while wiping the cold sweat off of his forehead.

Sapphir held a finger to his mouth to silence him.

He then whispered, "When I found my friends and then went to look for you, people started running away, saying they could hear explosions going off. I told my friends to go on ahead so I could look for you and ran towards where the explosions were coming from, and that's when I found you lying here, as well as…."

Sapphir motioned to where the arena was and grabbed Demande to peer through the railings along with him.

There were 6 people in total on the stage of the arena. Four of them being who he had left here earlier but the other two…

"Stop it both of you!" Sailor Moon called out to the two unknown senshi as she stood in front of the three leather clad senshi, known as the Sailor Starlights.

The two senshi, one being a very tall woman with short, dirty blonde hair walked alongside another female with wavy flowing hair that shared the same color as sea water.

The scent of rose petals filled the air as they walked closer, close enough to get a real good look at them. There was something very familiar about the both of them.

"They're invaders from outside the solar system!" The tall one said sternly to sailor moon.

"What?" she gasped.

The two mystery senshi began to display a fighting stance, "We can't trust them!"

The Starlights clearly feeling threatened, began theirs as well.

Sailor Moon stood between them, blocking them with her outstretched arms.

"That's not so! These aren't bad people!" she pleaded to them.

The wavy haired senshi then yelled to her, "Get out of the way!"

Demande was confused at this point on if they were her allies or not.

"Forget it!" called out Sailor Star Fighter.

Sailor Moon turned to them in surprise.

"We won't force you to cooperate!" said Sailor Star Healer.

"We can fully take care of ourselves." Sailor Star Maker then said after.

Sailor Star Fighter then looked to Sailor Moon and told her in a voice that Demande and Sapphir were barely able to make out, "Maybe we're incompatible after all."

Sailor Moon clearly hurt by this said in desperation, "That's not so.."

But before she could finish her thought the Sailor Starlights took off without a second's notice.

"It isn't so." Sailor Moon said to herself. "I know we could've reached an understanding."

She then turned to the two unknown Senshi.

"Why? Why can't we fight alongside them?" she asked angrily.

The wavy haired senshi softened her expression.

"Our mission is to protect you from outside invaders." She told Sailor Moon.

"You are our Princess and we must keep you safe at all cost, try to understand, Sailor Moon." The tall one said.

"Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune…" Sailor Moon looked to each of them. "Please reconsider, I know they're good people and I really think they could help us in fighting the enemy."

"I'm sorry, but it is impossible." Sailor Neptune said.

"Go and find your friends, they're most likely very worried." Sailor Uranus told her.

The two of them turned to walk away.

As they began to approach the exit, Sailor Neptune, without the other one noticing, turned and looked directly to Demande and Sapphir as if she knew they were hiding there the entire time.

Demande and Sapphir immediately ducked out of sight and looked to each other before signaling to relocate before they would be caught.

They hurried to the other side of the building before stopping to catch their breaths.

"I don't believe it…two… more…Senshi…" Demande said while panting.

"It's impossible I tell you, in all my research, there was never any evidence of a 'Sailor Uranus or Sailor Neptune'." Sapphir replied breathlessly.

"Maybe you just missed it somehow. We never knew of the existence of Sailor Pluto until Black Lady informed us." Demande said.

"That was different because she resided inside the Queen's time portal. If she was on Earth at any point, I would have known about it, I assure you."

"But we didn't even know of Sailor Moon until Rubeus first came to the 20th century and reported her to us." Demande told Sapphir.

Sapphir didn't seem to be listening to Demande and instead was thinking to himself. "My research is never wrong. Unless…"

Sapphir paced back and forth, back and forth until he suddenly stopped.

"Yes…I don't know why it didn't occur to me before." He said aloud.

"What is it?" Demande asked.

Sapphir turned to him, "Do you remember what I said to you last night about how you courting the Queen could cause an alteration in the timeline?"

"I vaguely remember, but yes."

"Things have been happening around here that were never intended to have happened. After Sailor Moon defeated Wiseman, even more enemies have shown up since then."

"She defeated Wiseman?" Demande then shouted. "And you never told me?!"

"I'll explain it all that later, please try listen to what I have to say." Sapphir replied. "Yes, she defeated Wiseman. The problem with that, was that Wiseman was never supposed to have been part of the original timeline in the first place, as well the Jakokusuishou, the Black Moon clan, even the Rabbit. I think the reason these new senshi exist here and now, is because of the repercussions from the altered timeline caused dark forces from outside the solar system to enter here. "

Demande continued to listen.

"It is true that I had made one error in my research in not knowing Sailor Moon's existence and her connection to the Queen, however, after we had discovered who she was, I was able to hack into a part of Crystal Tokyo's main database that I was unable to access before and found out many things we hadn't known." Sapphir told him.

"Such as what?" Demande asked.

"Records dating back to this time. Two years ago she awakened her power, as well as fighting one life threatening battle with Queen Beryl, a former enemy that resided in the time of the Silver Millennium. This battle was destined to be followed by another millennia of peace. In her 22nd year, she will have ascended the throne, unlocking the full power of the Silver Crystal, on the night of her courtship to King Endymion, and in one hundred years will give birth to her one and only child, the Rabbit. There's so much more, even information on the kingdom from the Silver Millennium."

"How come you never relayed this information to me before?" Demande asked irritably.

"It's not that I was withholding the information from you, but, I had suspected that Wiseman had corrupted you beyond return by that point and I didn't want him to get a hold of any it." Sapphir assured him.

Demande didn't respond, he always felt a tinge of guilt whenever Wiseman's betrayal was brought up.

"I never could have imagined that messing with time travel could reap such consequences. Dear God, what future is there going to be for us?" Sapphir said seemingly to himself.

"Let's discuss this more when we return home, clearly you've come upon the news of Wiseman's demise and I'm curious to know how." Demande said.

"You're right, there is something I've been keeping from you. Let's get out of here and I'll tell you everything." Sapphir replied.

They both walked side by side, back towards the entrance where there would be a bus stop not much further ahead. Just as they turned the corner of the building, Michiru happened to be coming from the opposite way and both parties stopped immediately when one became aware of the other's presence.

"So we meet again, Mr. Satoshi-san." Michiru said to Demande with a smile.

When Sapphir realized that the woman who was clearly familiar with his brother was the famous violinist that they had watched perform only an hour earlier, he realized that Demande had been hiding something from him as well.

"I was just now able to find my brother with all the commotion going on." He told her casually.

"Unfortunately for me, I got separated from Haruka as we were searching for some people we know and that's who I'm trying to find." Michiru continued.

"I see, then we won't keep you any longer then." Demande said.

She continued to smile and looked to both of them now.

"I hope you both enjoyed the entertainment this evening." She said politely.

Sapphir blushed then began to say nervously. "Oh-yes, the music was absolutely..wonderful." Immediately feeling awkward afterwards.

She then narrowed her eyes suspiciously to each one as if she was looking right through them and then let out a soft giggle. "Yes….the music…."

As she walked away, Sapphir and Demande looked at each other questioningly before it occurred to Demande as he stared after her, that he realized now why one of the senshi looked so familiar to him.

The smell of rose petals…the hair color of sea water…Michiru Kaioh wasn't simply just a good friend of Usagi's, but was one of Usagi's guardian senshi….Sailor Neptune.

* * *

Sapphir and Demande returned home, immediately after the encounter. They didn't speak the entire way but they both knew they had many things to discuss.

They sat on either end of their couch at home and kept quiet for several minutes. It was apparent that each of the brothers were processing all that had just taken place an hour earlier.

Both looked to each other and opened their mouths as if to speak but stopped when each one noticed it.

"Go ahead." Demande gestured towards Sapphir.

"I'll tell you now about how I know about Wiseman." He told Demande.

"Go on." Demande said.

"I should also let you know that I've known there have been recent attacks from various creatures around town that the sailor senshi have been fighting against. It's not that I was purposely keeping it from you, but, it was only hearsay and I honestly refused to believe it. All these things she told me that have happened are just simply impossible and never took place according to my research." Sapphir said before trailing off into his thoughts.

"Who is _she_?" Demande asked.

Sapphir guiltily looked away, avoiding eye contact.

"Berthier knows about us. That we're alive and assuming new identities."

"You mean…Berthier of the Spectre Sisters?" Demande raised his voice.

"Yes, there was a lot that happened that night I stormed out of here, I'll tell you everything even though I'm definitely not proud of all that I did." Sapphir told him.

Demande leaned in to listen intently has Sapphir recounted all that took place, from him getting blackmailed from those women into drinking himself into a drunken stupor, to then passing out near the sidewalk that Berthier happened to walk by.

He explained all the things she had told him, omitting the things about Petz that Sapphir wanted to keep blocked off in his mind for now.

"Do you really think we can trust her not to tell the Senshi?" Demande asked.

"We have no choice but to believe her. She said that she rarely keeps in contact with them due to their business anyway and she hasn't run to them thus far so I think as long as we don't give her a reason to, she won't." Sapphir said.

"I can't believe that you wouldn't tell me about Wiseman of all things knowing how much I worried about him returning." Demande said in aggravation.

"I'm sorry brother, I know it was selfish of me to do." Sapphir said.

Demande exhaled, "I'm just relieved that it's something I can finally put out of the back of my mind and never worry about again."

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, what was it you were going to tell me?" Sapphir asked Demande.

"I can say with absolute certainty that the violinist, Michiru Kaioh, and the 'Sailor Neptune' we witnessed tonight are in fact one in the same." Demande said with the upmost seriousness.

Saphir stood up from the couch.

"How can you know that? As a matter of fact, how do you two know each other in the first place? You can't tell me this is the first time you've ever met her, she knew you by name and everything."

Demande thought about it for a few minutes, what he would tell Sapphir of how it all took place.

He knew Sapphir would be upset if he told him that Usagi and him were hanging out with each other outside of the school so instead, he lied and said that he walked inside the arcade to use the facilities on his way home and that was how he accidentally ran into Usagi, and the rest were the events that had actually taken place.

"I can't explain it Sapphir, from the moment I met Miss Kaioh and the young man she was with, I could feel this strange tension between the three of us. As if she knew something about me that I didn't. I could sense a powerful aura between the two of them that was unlike anything I ever sensed before. Who are these people?"

"I don't know but, I think you should quit your job." Sapphir said bluntly.

"Quit my job? I can't do that, it's the only income we have at the moment. The money we received for the gems won't last forever, you know? Demande said furiously.

"Find another one. You heard what they said. The Starlights showed no hostility toward "their princess" and yet they were willing to blow them up in a second. Those two senshi had a much greater power then the ones we knew of, we wouldn't have a chance if they suspected us."

"I hardly have any contact with Usagi at all as it is, I'm nothing but the school librarian to her and they aren't even students at this school so none of us would even cross paths, what happened yesterday was a pure coincidence and it would be unlikely that we would all ever be in the same room again."

Sapphir rolled his eyes. "Nii-san I only suggest this because I don't want any harm to come to you. If what you said happened in the way you described it to me, it's clear that Michiru or rather, Sailor Neptune is suspicious of you, can't you see that?"

"I promise, nothing is going to happen to me. I will continue my job at the school and everything will continue as normal. Now if we're done here I think I shall go to bed." Demande said dismissively, turning to his bedroom.

"There's one more very important thing I must ask you before you do that." Sapphir said.

Demande was tired and felt his head started to pound, he was exhausted and hardly had the energy to continue the discussion as he had suffered a serious black out earlier that was still troubling to him. But, he turned back around to him anyway.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The visions. You've been having them too, yes?" Sapphir asked.

Demande stood back in surprise.

"I thought so." Sappir said.

"With all that's happened I haven't even had time to ponder on it." Demande commented.

"The first time I experienced it, I was early to one of my classes and the only other person inside was a woman who was crying. I walked up to her to try and comfort her but, the moment I placed my hand on her shoulder, fragments of her memory played into my head of a man hitting her over and over. It scared the hell out of me and since that time I've had similar experiences with a couple of other people with the memories becoming more vivid each time."

"It's the same with me as well. I don't understand how this is happening." Demande admitted.

"I believe it has to do with how the black crystal is adapting to the Earth. Because we took the crystal away from it's home planet to one with different atmospheric conditions such as what Earth has." Sappir said.

"So you're saying we could gain powers that weren't possible before?" Demande asked.

"Yes, but it could also evolve in a way that could be hard to control down the line. I suggest that we focus our time and energy on reviving Rubeus and Esmeraude and destroy the black crystal as soon as possible."

"I agree. If it's okay, I'd like to retire to my room now, I'm very tired and have much to think about. Goodnight."

"Goodnight-" Sapphir started to say back but Demande had already shut himself inside his bedroom.

"….Nii-san."

* * *

The next day at the school proved to be a long one as Demande was hardly able to get any sleep the night before. There was something in the back of his mind that had been bothering him, a crucial memory and he knew it was essential that he'd remember it, but it was no use. The last thing he remembered before his blackout was chasing Sailor Iron Mouse into the wooded area near the venue. She was pacing frantically before he soon confronted her and then…his mind only goes blank after that.

It was useless, for now, he needed to concentrate on finding all he could about the senshi he saw that night.

He took advantage of using the school's internet to investigate while students were in their classes, leaving the library completely empty.

The only subject he had to research at the moment was Michiru Kaioh. It was unlikely he would find out anything in relation to her being a senshi as he was sure her identity was kept secret, but, since she was famous, there would be a lot of information about her and it was possible he may be able to find something he could use.

It wouldn't be as easy to do this for him as it would for a human in this time. 20th century internet was definitely more complicated than he had expected as it since his first time ever using it.

When he entered her name into the search bar, there were several fan web pages that popped up that were dedicated to her, just as he had anticipated. He clicked the first one and read intently.

She was a third year high school student at Mugen Gakuen where she first debuted her talent as a violinist. She also excels at painting and swimming, so much so that the Mugen Gakuen's swimming team expressed great interest in making her captain but she turned the offer down due to 'not having the time', the website says.

He continued to read through the article, however, most of it was useless drivel, talking about her favorite tv shows, composers, and makeup brands.

'Michiru Kaoih also says her favorite activities include walking on the beach with her important partner, Haruka Tenoh.'

Demande zeroed in on the name. That was the man at the arcade accompanying her, the one who also carried an unknown and highly suspicious aura.

'Michiru is very private about their relationship and it is currently unknown how long they have been together. But based on the first photograph our fan base has taken of the two of them together, it is estimated that they been dating for almost two years and are by far the most beautiful yet mysterious couple in Juuban right now.'

Demande exited out of the fan page and now typed Haruka's name into the search bar.

Several web pages and articles of Haruka popped up, in fact it seemed as if he was even more known than Michiru.

Demande clicked on the first link.

A picture of Haruka appeared on the screen wearing a professional driver's uniform, holding a helmet in one arm with a trophy in the other.

Apparently Haruka is a world renowned professional racecar driver that has competed all across Asia, Europe and North America and even competes occasionally in Motocross.

Demande, being as tired as he was from the restless evening before began to find the screen blurry and hard to focus on, causing him to religiously sip on the coffee he held in one hand as he scrolled through the web page with the other.

'First competing barely as a freshmen in high school, Haruka Tenoh displayed remarkable talent in the Grand Prix 1993, breaking records not only for the quickest time finished but also for being the youngest winner in Japan.'

'When Haruka isn't competing or practicing on the tracks, she spends most of her time with girlfriend and violinist, Michiru Kaoih. They keep very private, and not much is known about either's personal life.'

Demande reread the sentence again and noticed a curious detail.

 _She_?

He choked and spit out the coffee he had been sipping on as he accidentally gasped and cupped his hand over his mouth. He really needed to fix this new bad habit he had developed.

Haruka was a female?

This was something unheard of to him, a woman who dressed as a man. Nemesis never people like this…or at least this is what he was brought up to believe. Even people of the same sex being romantically involved was nonexistent.

There was no reason to harbor on this new concept, the real revelation in this fact put all the pieces of the puzzle in place for him.

He remembered the familiarity he felt towards the other senshi that was with Sailor Neptune that night. The very tall, short haired senshi, that was called, Sailor Uranus.

Demande started to smile and even laughed slightly.

' _Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh…no….Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. In less than 24 hours upon seeing you for the first time I have managed to figure out both of your identities and yet you have absolutely nothing on me.'_ He thought to himself. _'I know from now on to be wary of the two of you and it'll only be a matter of time until I find the identities of the other possible threats, the Sailor Starlights.'_

Just then, a book dropped onto his desk, startling him. He looked down to the cover of ' _Romeo & Juliet' _and then onto it's owner.

Seiya stood and glared down at him

"I'm finished with my book and wanted to return it." He said indifferently.

"Good for you." Demande replied, "Miss Tsukino is nearly finished writing your book report, but it's great that you can finally contribute at least one sentence to it."

Seiya, clearly irked by the comment, opened his mouth to say something but then stopped and brushed his hair with his fingers trying to keep his composure.

"That's fine with me." Seiya smirked to Demande. "It'll give us more time for 'other things' on our outing we have planned this weekend."

Demande stood up out of his chair without thinking.

He wanted nothing more than to blast this bastard's head off right here and now but he knew that he was only trying to get a reaction out of him and didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

Instead Demande calmly sat back down and smiled back at him.

"I wonder if she knows about this." He replied back to Seiya.

"Oh believe me." Seiya then looked at Demande straight in the eyes. "She does."

A strange energy passed between the two of them, a strange and almost threatening energy.

Seiya turned away from him and walked out of the library without saying another word, taking the strange energy with him.

' _Just who are you, really?'_ Demande thought to himself.

He then went back to his computer and angrily typed in a new name into the search bar:

'Seiya Kou'

* * *

 _Author's Note: Thank you all for continuing to follow my story! I hope you like the direction it's going in so far and would appreciate your_ _reviews_ _and opinions on it. Stay tuned for the next chapter!_


	17. Chapter 16-A Stormy Night

_After School:_

"What do you think?" Usagi asked Demande.

He was deep in thought and gave no response.

"Tohru-chan?"

Usagi delicately tugged onto his sleeve, breaking his concentration.

"Yes?" he replied.

"This last paragraph." Usagi pointed to the bottom of the page in front of her.

Demande read it over, then marked a few areas with his pen.

"I think it's well written. Once you apply the corrections I gave you, you'll be ready to write the last part of your report."

"You really think so?" she said with widened eyes.

He nodded. "There is no doubt you will make an excellent grade and the last part is simple enough, all you have to do is give your thoughts on the ending of the book and if you would alter it in any way or not, so it's all a matter of your opinion-there is no right or wrong answer."

"It's all thanks to you." She smiled, causing Demande to slightly blush.

"You're exaggerating, they're all your words, it just required a bit of…structure is all."

She turned her attention towards putting her things away in her book bag.

"Did you need any help with the last portion in any way?" he asked her.

She shook her head, "I don't need any help, I know exactly what I'm going to write."

"Just out of curiosity, what is your opinion on the ending? Most people would say it's a bit over dramatic how the lovers reacted. Wouldn't you agree?" Demande asked.

Usagi looked off for a moment, thinking about her answer.

"No. In fact, I think what Juliet did was what I think I would do if I lost someone I loved in the way she loved Romeo."

She looked back to Demande then smiled.

"I wouldn't change a thing."

The answer disturbed him. He knew her past incarnate had done exactly this, but would she as 'Usagi' choose the same fate for herself if something were to happen to Endymion?

 _Endymion.._

 _Endymion…?_

There was something that came to mind about him, something he had forgotten.

 _Something…happened…_

 _To…_

 _Endymion….?_

His head started to pound in excruciating pain. He groaned aloud and grabbed at his temples along with a clump of hair in each hand.

Usagi immediately took notice of it, "Tohru, what's wrong?"

The pain continued as a blurry image began to form in his mind.

When it cleared, a diamond like object that emitted out an intense light hovered inside the palms of his hands.

He didn't know where he saw this before but tried to fixate on it to remember the additional details.

Beyond the glow of the shiny diamond, the golden figure of a woman appeared in the background vividly but only for an instant before the image along with the pain faded away.

"Do you want me to go get the nurse?" Usagi asked in urgency.

"No, No, I'm alright really. I'm just quite starved and in need of some food. If you don't mind, I think I'll start shutting down the library while you finish up." He told her.

He had been so persistent on researching the Three Lights as much as he could, that he ended up accidentally skipping his lunch break.

"I completely understand, I get that way when I'm hungry too. In fact, I could really go for some crepes, that sounds delicious!" She responded.

"Crepes? What are those?" He asked.

"You've never had crepes before?" she asked in return.

"No, I haven't, I guess you could say I haven't tried a lot of food in the..area.." he said and then chuckled slightly.

She looked away thinking to herself and then looked back to him.

"I could show you where the stand is, it's not too far from here."

"Only if it's not any trouble." He answered.

"Not at all. Everyone needs to eat crepes at least once." She said cheerfully.

"Alright, it's my treat, okay?" he smiled.

"I feel bad though, you paid for me at the arcade as well." Usagi told him.

"Don't be, I'm not going to make you spend all your allowance money. Besides, I'm sure you had better things to do than hang around your school's librarian."

Usagi giggled, "Tohru-chan you're the coolest librarian I've ever known, that's hardly how I think of you."

Demande felt the heat rise in his cheeks and turned away.

He smiled and cleared his throat, "Just give me 10 minutes and then we can leave."

* * *

Demande paid the man at the stand as he held his crepe in one hand as Usagi carried her two.

Both, made their way to the nearest bench and seated themselves.

They each took the first bite.

Both chewed on the crepe as if each were in sync, and immediately sighed in satisfaction over it's sweetness.

Demande could have never predicted how delicious Earth food would be, especially their desserts.

"How's your crepe?" Usagi asked in between bites.

"You're right, the crepes are good especially with the strawberries inside of it. Which flavor did you end up liking the best?" Demande asked.

"The chocolate one!" she said excitedly. "Thank you for getting me the both of these." She then giggled.

He chuckled in return, "I knew you had trouble deciding which one you wanted."

Each one continued to eat until they finished their food.

Afterwards, they walked out towards the pond continuing to chat aimlessly.

"Looks like the sun is about to set." Usagi commented.

"We came just in time." Demande replied.

"I like to watch sunsets sometimes, they're very pretty, don't you think?" She looked out romantically into sky that started to take on a pinkish hue.

Demande looked over to her, admiring her features with her attention going unnoticed as he began to form a smile, "Very."

"Have you ever found yourself torn between two sides?" Usagi asked, with her gaze still lost in the sunset.

"Two sides?" he questioned.

"Yes, where one side is convinced that the other doesn't have good intentions without truly getting to know them at all, but you know in your heart that they do."

He knew she was referring to the dispute between her guardian senshi and the Starlights, but he was surprised she would ask for his advice on such a matter.

"All too well." he replied.

"What do you do about it?" she asked.

"Each situation is different but, all you can do at the end of the day is to have trust in yourself to know what's best for both sides even if they don't think so."

Usagi nodded in agreement, "I think so too."

* * *

Demande walked Usagi towards the bus stop after the sun under the horizon.

"How is your head feeling?" Usagi asked.

"I feel much better now, the food really did the trick, thank you for showing me the stand." He smiled.

"It's you I should be thanking, you've helped me so much on all my school work, and you've even made me come to enjoy doing it which I never thought could be possible." She giggled nervously.

"You'll definitely do well on your book report and even though I know you're all caught up on your homework, feel free to come in and chat or maybe you can show me some other places you like to go to if you have time."

"You mean it?" Usagi eyes lit up.

"Of course, you're a nice girl, I enjoy spending time with you."

Usagi's face turned a noticeable shade of red, causing her to turn away, "I like spending time with you too."

"Looks like your bus is here so I better get going. See you tomorrow." He told her displaying the most charming smile he could muster up.

She returned his smile, "See you tomorrow Tohru."

* * *

When Demande arrived home he was surprised to see Saphir sitting on the couch waiting for him.

"Welcome home Nii-san." He smiled to him.

Demande smiled, "What a pleasant surprise, I thought you'd be at school."

"Classes are canceled today. You're home later than usual." Sapphir pointed out.

"I stopped at this crepe stand on the way, and I must say you have to try it sometime, they're quite tasty." He said in an upbeat manner.

"They must be to put you in _that_ good of a mood." Sapphir chuckled.

"That's only because today couldn't have gone more perfect." Demande said with a wide grin.

He walked over to their kitchen and picked up a bottle of wine and poured them into two glasses then preceded to hand one of them to Sapphir.

Sapphir looked back to him questioningly.

"I have much to tell you so just sit back and listen." Demande said enthusiastically.

* * *

Demande informed him of what all he had found out in regards to uncovering the identity of the other outer senshi, Sailor Uranus and all the facts about her he could remember.

"A woman who appears and acts as a man…fascinating..." Sapphir replied.

"Strange isn't it? Who knows how long it would have taken for me to find the connection had I not known that fact." Demande said.

"I'm impressed." Sapphir exclaimed. "Finding out all of that in one day, and with 20th century technology no less."

"But it seems as if for every one mystery uncovered, another tends to rear it's ugly head." Demande replied, pacing the room while taking sips from his glass.

"I'm sure it'll take no time at all to found out more about the Sailor Starlights." Sapphir reassured him.

"It's not that either." He told Sapphir.

Sapphir appeared confused.

"The Three Lights."

"The group that performed at the concert?" Sapphir asked.

"Yes. They're students at the school I work at. I sensed something strange the very first time I came into contact with them, especially from the one named, Seiya…" he said.

Sapphir continued to listen.

"I spent most of the day looking at every fan website I could in the hours I had, and noticed a common theme among every one of them." Demande commented.

"What is that?" Sapphir asked.

"Before 6 months ago, no one, not even their most loyal and desperate of fans, is able to find a place of origin, a picture or even a record of any kind of the Three Lights. They pass it off as them being very private and secretive people, but it only confirmed what I had already suspected of them." Demande said.

"Which is?" Sapphir leaned in.

"That they too, aren't of this world. Neptune and Saturn mentioned protecting Sailor Moon from invaders from outside of the Galaxy, not just the planet. I'd say it is a possibility that's where they come from."

"Yes, it makes sense now, that night at the concert, I felt that they were sending some kind of signal." Sapphir told him.

"I felt that as well. Perhaps they're trying to make contact with someone…"

Demande then pointed to the sky, "Out there"

"It's possible, the question is, why are they here and, how many people or, rather 'beings' are they trying to contact?" Sapphir asked in concern.

"Who knows. It appears as if there's some kind of invasion occurring. Perhaps it was why we were led to this time…"

Sapphir looked sternly to Demande.

"It's something that we should stay out of and let the Senshi handle."

Demande smiled. "Of course, forgive me, brother."

"Let's just concentrate on reviving Rubeus and Esmeraude as soon as possible." Sapphir said.

"If we even can." Demande replied grimly.

"You don't think we can?"

"I haven't felt a trace of their energy in the past 3 weeks. It may be too late."

"We have yet to unlock 100% of our former powers, there is still time." Sapphir assured him.

"You're right. I feel as if we'll be even stronger than our former selves at this rate, I won't give up without at least trying."

"Just please try to stay away from all of them: Seiya, Michiru, and especially the Queen's current self, Usagi Tsukino. For all we know, the enemy could already be aware of her identity and I don't want you to get caught up in the situation if anything were to happen." Sapphir pleaded.

Demande didn't say anything but simply nodded and turned away.

Sapphir brought up a good point, the enemy could already be aware of her identity and could be planning their attack against her. And that is why, he must keep an even closer eye on her and do all he can to protect her in case something does happen.

* * *

The week provided new adventures for Demande.

Usagi, even though, completely caught up in her school work, managed to still make time to spend at the library.

She would usually bring her manga to read and talk with him when he was in between helping students. When the library would close down, she would usually hint at wanting to go somewhere together.

On Tuesday, Usagi and Demande went to the park and enjoyed ice cream cones while they leisurely walked around.

Wednesday, they went to the Fruits Parlor Crown where Demande helped Usagi finish her math assignment as he had a soda while Usagi ate a sundae. Unazuki was their server and while she seemed friendly enough towards him, Demande couldn't shake the feeling that she was eyeing them closely every time she went back to the counter.

Thursday they went to look around all of Usagi's favorite shops. There weren't anything in any of them he was particularly interested in to buy but they were entertaining enough.

Usagi pulled him to the next shop enthusiastically.

"This shop's is getting raves all around town and I'm really good friends with the owners so they give me free samples of all of their cosmetics and perfume. I bet they would be happy to give some cologne samples for you!"

Demande looked up to the stores logo:

' _Beauty Quartette'_

He stopped dead in his tracks. Sapphir made it a point to warn him about the store the Ayakashi sisters worked at.

"Aren't you coming?" Usagi asked as she was about to open the door.

"I'm afraid...I can't." he told her.

"Why?" she asked.

"I have….an allergy to certain fragrances, a severe one. I'll wait outside if you'd like to go in." Demande said.

"Don't be silly I can see them another time, we can just skip this shop." She gladly obliged.

* * *

Friday, they went back to the arcade again and used the rest of the tokens they had from the last time they went. Afterwards both built up an appetite and Demande suggested they eat at the café down the street that he liked.

Usagi and Demande sat at one of the tables outside and were so deep in conversation that they hadn't even realized the clouds that were gathering above them.

As Usagi was complaining about her brother, Shingo, Demande suddenly remembered that day he came here just before he saw her again for the first time and how he looked to the couple sitting a few tables away who were together just as he and Usagi were here now. It wasn't the same as them, he knew, but to the people sitting around them, it wouldn't be absurd to think that maybe the people around them perceived them to be a couple as well.

This caused a smile to creep up on his face.

"What is it?" asked Usagi.

"Nothing." Was all he replied.

They finished their food and as they walked out of the restaurant, rain started to pour relentlessly over the two.

"Oh no, I don't have an umbrella!" Usagi cried.

"Neither do I!" he yelled over the volume of the pouring rain.

It started to thunder loudly that followed with a crack of lightning was eerily close to where they were.

Usagi screamed and held onto Demande, burying her face into his chest.

He in turn, wrapped his arms around her reassuringly as she shook uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry!" She said in a muffled cry. "I really hate thunderstorms."

"It's okay, you're safe with me." He said calmly as he rested his chin on top of her head.

The wind gusts started to pick up and another flash of lightning caused Usagi to grab onto him tighter.

"The bus stop is so far away, what should we do?" she asked him.

"I happen to live on this street. You can dry off there until the rain passes." Demande suggested.

Usagi loosened her grip and began to pull away.

To go into another man's house, she knew, was wrong. Her friends and Mamoru, especially, would never approve of this.

"I don't think that I should-"she started to say.

Just then another loud crash of thunder and lightning occurred pushing Usagi right back into his arms.

"Okay! Okay! Let's go!" she yelled.

"Alright, it's just up here." He told her as he kept his arm around her, trying to shield her as much away from the rain as possible.

They rushed inside the apartment building and up to the floor to where he lived.

He opened the door to the dark apartment and was so relieved to find that Sapphir wasn't home.

Demande turned on the lights and saw that Usagi was cold and shivering. The rain had soaked her school uniform and she hadn't been wearing a jacket.

"I'll go get a towel for you so you can dry off, I'll be just a moment." Demande told her before he left the room.

Usagi looked around the large, spacious apartment with a sense of familiarity.

She looked toward the hallway which she presumed led to his bedroom as well as his brothers, then to the kitchen and then to a door.

It was an automated door that opened by a push of the button that was next to it so she doubted it lead to where the bathroom was. But what was in it, she wondered.

Curiosity got the better of her as she walked toward the door, the button looking more and more enticing with each step she took.

As her hand reached out towards it, ready to push, the feeling of déjà vu overcame her in an ominous way but, she ignored it and continued.

She pressed the button, and held her breath in anticipation on what would be behind that door, but to her disappointment the door remained shut.

"Hmm.."

Usagi pushed it again.

Then again.

Then again with a frustrated grunt.

Demande came up behind her.

"Here's a towel for you." He told her.

Usagi gave a startled gasp.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Demande took notice of her trying to enter the 'other room' that held the large mass of black crystal.

However, he wasn't concerned in any way that she would be able to walk into the room. Demande wasn't foolish enough to allow potential outsiders to be able to enter inside, the button would only recognize and accept those who carried the dark aura of the black crystal, that was the way he and Sapphir had programmed it.

"What is in this room?" she asked in a serious tone.

"Nothing. The door hasn't worked since I moved here. They told me it's too expensive to fix so we opted for cheaper rent."

"I see." She replied.

"Here." He handed her a large, white towel. "I'll put on a fire, you must be freezing."

"You don't have to go to the trouble." She said while wrapping the towel around her shoulders.

"It's no trouble at all." He assured her.

As he set the logs down in the fireplace and started the fire, Usagi quietly continued to use the towel to dry off her clothes and then hair.

Demande warmed his hands in front of the fire.

"Much better." He said aloud.

"I think I'm finished with this now, thank you, it really helped." She dangled the towel next to him.

When he looked to her to receive the towel, he began to laugh.

"What?" she asked.

He continued to laugh and led her to a mirror nearby.

When she looked to her reflection, she found that her hair was in complete disarray with her odango buns being completely uneven.

Her horrified expression caused Demande to laugh even harder.

Usagi eyed him.

"It's not _that_ funny."

"My apologies." He said to her as his laughter began to die down.

He noticed her clothes were still fairly damp and went to grab a blanket for her.

"It's no use, there's no salvaging this." Usagi said before she finally gave up on fixing her odangos and undid them to let her hair loose.

When he went to give her the blanket, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of her running her fingers through the long strands of her hair. The dampness of it created waves into the beautiful golden tresses which looked to be made of satin.

In the reflection, Usagi noticed that Demande was looking at her.

She turned to look at him and their eyes met.

Demande was at such a loss for words that he had forgotten to offer her the blanket that was resting in his hand. He had never seen her hair undone from her traditional style she usually wore, and it made her possibly even more beautiful than he had ever known her to be.

A bright flash of lightning followed by the loud crash of thunder, broke the tension causing her to jump into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry!" she cried as she pressed herself closer into him.

He then unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around her as she kept her eyes closed and appeared almost peaceful once the storm quieted down.

When he closed the blanket around her, she looked up to him.

"You don't ever have to be sorry." He gently said to her.

Both could felt each other's heartbeat pounding incredibly fast but it didn't stop them from continuing to look into eachother's gaze, unaware of how much time was passing by.

It was a while before Usagi came back into reality and broke eye contact.

"Would you mind if I borrowed your phone for a moment to let my mom know I'm waiting out the storm so she doesn't get worried?"

"Not at all, it's on the table over there."

While she talked to her mom giving her a story that she's waiting at one of her friends house, Demande went to his kitchen and poured a glass of red wine as he usually did when he came home from work.

As he lifted the glass of the delicious red nectar up to his lips, he saw that Usagi had finished her phone conversation and was lingering in the doorway looking at the cup he held.

"It's wine." He told her.

She continued to eye it curiously. "I've never had wine before."

"Would you like a glass?" he then asked her.

Demande grew up in royalty and had been drinking wine shamelessly since he was much younger than Usagi, so he had no notion of this being perceived as inappropriate.

"Here." He handed her his glass.

She took it and hesitantly sipped the wine.

Her face immediately scrunched up and she shook her head.

The wine had a dry flavor and tasted worse than any cough syrup she's ever had.

He laughed as she gave the glass back to him.

Demande opened a cabinet pulling out another glass and another bottle of wine that was almost completely full.

He poured it's contents into the cup and handed it to her.

"Try this one, it's a plum wine I had gotten that was too sweet for my taste, but I think you may like it."

She took it and sipped on it more approvingly.

"Yes, it's not bad." She said.

He turned to close the cabinet door.

"The fire is going if you'd like to warm yourself."

When he turned back around, he was surprised to see her glass was already empty.

"May I have some more?" she asked.

He chuckled, "Sure."

They made their way into the living room and he sat at the fireplace while she stood next to him while each sipped on their glasses.

The effects of the wine must have been taking effect because Usagi felt oddly at ease and completely relaxed, not thinking about the situation she was in at being in another man's apartment.

She looked around the room, admiring how the apartment looked. It was unsurprising how lavish Tohru's place was decorated as he always managed to dress so formal every day she's known him.

"I noticed you don't have any pictures of you or your family around." Usagi commented.

"Oh, yes, a lot of things got left behind in Okinawa." He lied.

"You don't ever say much about where you came from. You know pretty much everything about me but I don't really know anything about you." She said.

"What would you like to know?" he asked.

"Like, what did you do before you came here to Juuban?"

He and Sapphir had already gone through their cover story time and time again.

"My father was a wealthy businessman and after he passed away, I was heading his company."

Usagi's eye's widened. It explained how he was able to afford to live in a large apartment on a librarian's pay.

"What happened?"

"I did it for a short while but then decided to sell it and relocate to start a new and simpler life." He replied.

"And your mother?" she asked.

"Also deceased, but I was a child when it happened."

"It must have been tough to go through all of that at such a young age." She said sympathetically.

"At first, but, I had been prepped all my life for this so I was able to handle it." He assured her.

"I remember how you mentioned that you had a strict upbringing, I had no idea it was because of something that."

"Strict is definitely putting it lightly. It was always a struggle dealing with my father, he could be such a cruel man at times but it never stopped me from constantly trying to gain his approval. Although, I don't think I ever quite met his expectations." he said with a somber tone.

"I"m so sorry. I can't imagine how it must have been." she told him.

Demande took another sip of wine.

"To be honest I had things much easier than my brother did. My mother gave me all the affection in the world from what my memories tell me, yet she would never so much as shoot a glance in his direction. My father although, intense at times toward me, never even acknowledged Shinjiro since I was the firstborn son and set to inherit his business. He would always refer to him a 'nuisance' to me and would even keep us apart so that he couldn't distract me with my studies."

He didn't know why he was telling her all of this, such personal things about himself that he never discussed with anyone else before.

Usagi continued to listen with tears starting to gather in her eyes.

"Once he passed away, it was the first time since we were children that we could have a relationship with each other. It was hard at first to adjust to all the responsibility and the fact that so many strangers counted on me now but I was surrounded with my own set of people who I trusted my life with so it made things much easier."

"Like your fiance?" Usagi asked.

"Yes." he replied.

It became awkwardly silent between them for several minutes.

Usagi looked to the top of the fireplace and noticed two large gems sitting on top of a satin pillow.

She walked closer to them and examined them. One was a deep red color, while the other was a beautiful shade of green. She leaned in close to study the colors and size of these lovely gems.

Usagi gasped aloud and abruptly stepped backwards.

Demande looked to her in confusion.

"Whats wrong?" he asked.

She covered her mouth can continued to stare towards the top of the mantle.

"Those gems." she pointed to them. "I could have sworn just now..."

Demande stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"What is it, what did you see?" he asked urgently.

"They appeared to glow..." she said in astonishment.

Demande widened his eyes in shock and looked over to them.

Thankfully her gaze was fixated on the gems still, so that she wasn't able to see his reaction.

"Usagi, don't be silly, it's only the light bouncing off." Demande chuckled, trying to play it off.

She shook her head.

"No, it wasn't that, the light came from within them!" she said hysterically.

He walked over and picked up both the Ruby and the Emerald from the pillow they were placed on and showed them to her, letting the light from the room shine down on them.

"Do you see it now?" he asked her.

She concentrated on the variations of green's and red's that danced around in the palms of his hands and while they glittered, it was nowhere close to the intensity she witnessed from them only moments ago.

"No...I guess not…" she said embarrassed over how she reacted.

Usagi set her empty glass down on the end table and sat on his couch.

"I must be getting tired or something." she said while rubbing her temples.

Demande went to place the gems carefully back on the pillow.

When he turned back around, he saw that Usagi had fallen into a deep sleep.

He laughed slightly to himself.

' _Earthlings really can't hold their alcohol.'_ he thought.

As he leaned down to take her empty glass, he couldn't help but become distracted from the soft, steady breathes coming from her. He set the glass back down and took a strand of her hair, ran it through his fingers and guided it to his lips. The feeling of it was so soft.

Just then an idea had occurred to him.

He opened a drawer from the table next to her and pulled out the black crystal earrings and put them on.

While she was out cold, he could take advantage of his newfound power and dive into her memories now that he had the black crystal earrings that would help him harness the power more efficiently.

He knew it was a risk and there was no doubt Sappir would disapprove but, with this, he would be able to find out useful information that he and his brother could use and that even he, himself could use to better his chances in winning Usagi over.

With his earrings in place now, he leaned into her and gently cupped her chin up towards him, caressing her lips with his thumb.

When the warmth from her lips connected to his, he began to feel the dark energy flow through him vigorously.

A montage of the last two years played through to him as if it were a movie where the setting were set on 'fast forward' as he could see and hear events as they actually happened.

He witnessed first, what took place immediately after his death as she defeated the Death Phantom and restored 30th century back into Crystal Tokyo.

Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus had arrived shortly after along with the Queen's daughter who was now a sailor senshi as well. It showed that she had formed a bond with a girl who would soon become the Senshi of Death and Destruction, Sailor Saturn. Sailor Pluto who normally guarded the Queen's time portal was now living on Earth and assisting with the rest of them as Sailor Moon defeated the next dark force that was Pharoah 90.

Then, time passes into the next phase where the Dead Moon Circus has landed on Earth that carried a Queen Nehelenia who was trapped in the mirror, only to later be freed and attempt to get revenge from her time from the Silver Millenium but eventually is defeated by both Sailor Moon and the Rabbit.

Another time lapse happens where the dark Queen has been revived thanks to the power granted from a mysterious figure and kidnaps Endymion, holding him hostage inside the mirror world she is trapped in. This forced the senshi to go through many trials and trepidations together, but it was Sailor Moon or rather, Usagi that had to go through the most. He witnessed the lengths she went to recover Endymion, almost dying to be able to reach him. The situation was so dire that it nearly erased the existence of the child they would eventually bare together but she was able to rescue Endymion and cleansed the Queen causing Sailor Moon to unlock her powers to turn her into the form he knew her now as, Eternal Sailor Moon.

He pulled away from her and looked to the clock that ticked on the wall.

Not even a minute had passed with all the visions he saw and she was still fast asleep, unaware of what just took place.

He had no idea that so much had happened since they were last here, and now he knew of all the senshi's identities and would have to inform Sapphir of all he had learned as soon as possible.

He looked back to her.

Her face that that looked so peaceful in slumber had mesmerized him again.

Finally, he was able to taste the lips of the woman he loved, something he had been dreaming of for so many nights.

But with the intention of reading her memories, he didn't really get to enjoy and savor the moment, really.

He leaned back into her before she would begin to wake so that he could kiss her again.

Yes that's all he wanted to do was to….

 _Strangle her…_

No that's not what he wanted at all.

He brushed the strange thoughts away and was now about to touch his lips with hers.

But his head became fuzzy which made him stop. He started to get that pain in his head again just like before and unbeknownst to him, his hand started to reach slowly towards her throat.

His eyes started to glow a bright purple color.

 _Yes all I want to do is strangle her…_

 _She must pay…_

 _She must die..._

As his hand was about to close around her throat, her broach opened revealing the shining Maboroshi no Ginzuishou that blasted a light that pushed him back away from her, causing him to regain his senses.

He quickly removed the earrings and stuffed them into the drawer before she would see them and sat on the floor unaware of what he just tried to do.

Usagi let out a mild snore and switched her position, leaning her head of the arm the chair.

Demande held out his arms in from of him and stared at them as if they weren't his own.

 _'What is happening to me?'_

* * *

 _Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the long chapter. The story is about to take an interesting turn that will shake things a up a bit so I hope there is still interest in future chapters. I enjoy hearing your thoughts and feelings on how the story is progressing so don't forget to review. Thank you!_


	18. Chapter 17-A Horrific Dream

Usagi groggily sat up when she awoke.

Her eyes were very strained and her head pounded so intensely, that she grabbed at her temples and groaned allowed.

She felt around the bed she was laying on and realized that it was much too large and comfortable to be her bed at home, but no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to remember where she was before she had fallen asleep.

Once her vision cleared, she found that the bed was laying on was the only thing that she was able to see in the room she was in.

It was like she was in a stage play where a single spotlight was shining on top of her and everything outside the King sized bed only held darkness, making her feel very vulnerable.

She looked down to find that she was wearing a long, tight fitting gown. She recognized the beautiful white dress and knew it all too well. Although, she had only ever worn it once, she had dreamed about it for many nights, but these weren't pleasant dreams, these were the most realistic nightmares she had ever experienced.

It was a strange thing to be aware that you were inside one of your own nightmares, however, it didn't make it any less frightening. Something about it felt much more ominous than all of the other times.

She placed her hand on her chest to feel for her brooch.

The brooch was missing, but that was too be expected, it usually was.

Her hands navigated every surface of the bed and even under the sheets but the brooch seemed to be truly gone this time around.

She started to panic, becoming more and more aware of the feeling that that something was watching her.

"Is this what you are looking for?" said an anonymous voice in the darkness.

Usagi jerked head up to look towards where the voice was coming from.

The mysterious figure tossed her brooch to where it landed on the foot of the bed.

She crawled towards it and clutched it to her chest before quickly crawling back to the head of the bed, pressing herself against the headboard.

"I know it's you Prince Demande." she called to the voice. "But I also know that this is only a dream and that you can't hurt me. I am not frightened."

She heard laughter in the darkness.

Just then, as if another spotlight came on, Prince Demande suddenly illuminated in the darkness. He shined brightly with his pale features and white suit, appearing almost angelic.

Prince Demande didn't say anything at first and merely looked her up and down with a perverse grin spreading on his face.

"Have I ever told you how much that dress favors you?" he said.

She suddenly became aware of how low cut the front was and immediately grabbed the sheet to cover the area he seemed to fixate his gaze on.

"We both know how this ends Prince Demande, so you might as well give up now." she said sternly.

"Do we?" he replied innocently.

"I know this isn't really what you want, why are you doing this?!" Usagi yelled.

He walked from the foot of the bed around to the head, close to where she was sitting.

Usagi scooted away towards the other end never taking her eyes off of him.

"I don't know what you're talking about. This is exactly what I want." He told her while beginning to climb on to the bed beside her.

He jerked the sheet she used to cover herself out from her grip.

She shrieked in fright when he did this unexpectedly. It was hard to fake bravery at this point, it was apparent that something was different than all the other times she had this dream.

Usagi looked to him pleadingly, "What do you want from me?"

He sat next to her calmly and then laughed with his gaze turning away from her momentarily before he looked back to her dropping the smile from his face looking now as if she had just insulted him.

Then, in what seemed to be only a second, he grabbed her by the arms and threw her underneath him, pinning her down to the bed.

"I've wanted for so long to break that pretty face of yours." he said as he lightly grazed his fingers along her cheek with his animalistic eyes staring intensely into hers.

She was so frightened at this point that she couldn't even choke out a scream. In fact, it felt as if her heart was pounding directly inside her throat.

Tears started to pour out of her eyes.

She looked back up to him in absolute terror before he dipped his head down and  
touched his tongue to her collar bone then dragged it up her neck licking away the tears in one swift motion.

"Tuxedo Mask!" she screamed.

"Tuxedo Mask, please help me! Why aren't you coming?! This is where you're supposed to save me!"

He laughed mockingly at her, clearly enjoying her tearful shouts for help.

"My dear, your Tuxedo Mask is dead. I'm afraid he won't be coming to save you this time." he said with a smug grin.

She shook her head violently, "No! That's not true, you're lying to me! Tuxedo Mask is not dead!"

He then cupped her chin forcibly to have her look him in the eye as his face became as close to hers as possible.

He tightened his grip on her and told her with the utmost seriousness, "He's dead."

She tried with all her might to struggle herself free, but it was no use, her body seemed to be paralyzed and refused to move even an inch.

"Now, I have you and the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou all to myself and there's no one left to stand in my way." he said with a deranged grin before beginning to laugh maniacally.

"No!" she called out while shaking her head.

He wrapped both his hand around her neck and began to squeeze.

As she attempted to shout Tuxedo Mask's name for a final time, Demande forced his mouth to hers silencing anymore calls for help she would make.

* * *

Usagi opened her eyes back to the world of reality as she bolted upright from the bed she was laying on.

The cold sweat dripped from her temples and she found herself hyperventilating in a panic, feeling as if she was about to have a heart attack.

She noticed the bed she was on, was almost similar to the dream, although, not quite as large and another similarity was that the room she was in was completely dark as well other than the dim light of a lamp that sat on a night stand.

Her hand, like in the dream, immediately grasped at her chest to find her brooch was missing and proceeded to search all around the bed, tearing loose the neatly placed comforter and sheets.

It was then, that a door started to creak open ever so slowly.

The person that entered, turned on a light switch revealing to be the man whom she had just dreamed about.

She winced at the light's brightness, but could see in that brightness how much it accentuated the man's white hair.

"Oh good, you're awake. I just came to tell you that the storm has passed and it's only drizzling outside now." he said cheerfully as he started to walk towards her.

She grabbed at all the pillows on the bed and began to throw each one at him as he either dodged them or patted them away while looking to her in utter confusion.

"You stay away from me!" she shouted to him.

He stopped in his tracks, "Usagi, I hope you're not mad that I moved you to the bed, you looked like were in such an uncomfortable position on the couch. I swear I was in the living room this whole time."

"What did you do with my brooch?" she asked angrily, continuing to raise her voice.

Demande pointed to the nightstand.

She looked next to her and found it lying there.

Usagi snatched it as if it were about to go missing again.

"I don't understand." he told her.

He started to walk towards her again to try and calm her down but she moved away as if he was about to do something horrible her.

"I won't fall for this trick of yours, Prince Demande, he's not dead!" she said to him in disgust.

"Whose not dead? And why are you calling me that?" he said starting to walk towards her again.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!" she screamed hysterically.

She backed herself into a wall, where there was nowhere left to run.

He grabbed ahold of her arms as she struggled wildly.

"Please, don't hurt me!" she called out while shutting her eyes tight.

"Usagi, I'm not going to hurt you, look at me!" he told her, giving her a slight shake.

She she stopped trying to struggle out of his grip and slowly opened her eyes to look at him.

His hair was blonde once again and when she stared into his green eyes, she knew that it was Tohru, not Prince Demande. The white hair he appeared to have she guessed was nothing more than the trick of the light or perhaps a hallucination carried over from her nightmare.

She sank down in disbelief against the wall as he let go of her.

"It really was just a dream." Usagi said dumbfoundedly to herself.

"Is that what all this is about?" he replied.

She nodded but did so without looking him in the eye.

"I'm so sorry, Tohru. I feel as though I'm losing my mind." she said, trying her hardest not to cry.

"You've been having dreams about that man whom I resemble?"

She nodded again.

"For months now, shortly before you started working at the school."

"Did this man ever hurt you?" he asked her.

She shook her head.

"No, but in my dreams, he tries to. I was so scared, it seemed so real." Usagi said.

"I can still feel his hands around me." she said as she rubbed the base of her neck.

He gathered her in his arms and tried to comfort her, "It's okay you're safe with me now. I would never even think of hurting you."

"I know you wouldn't and I hope you can forgive me for this. I feel like such an idiot." she said as she buried her face in his chest.

"Who were you talking about when you said 'He's not dead'?"

"He told me…" she started to say, but then was unable to hold back her tears anymore.

"He told me that Mamo-chan is dead." Usagi could barely choke out.

"Shhh." he said in a low voice as he lightly stroked the top of head. "It was only a dream, everything is alright."

"I tell myself that every other time but it just...seemed so painfully real this time. I just wish I could talk to him, without him here with me, I feel so helpless and alone."

He felt a pang of jealousy at her words, but had to do the best he could to suppress any signs of it.

"I know that I could hardly substitute the comfort your boyfriend could provide you, however, I hope you know that as long as I'm around, you're never alone." he assured her.

She wiped her tears away and smiled, "Thank you."

He returned her smile, "Let's get you home before it gets too late."

She nodded back at him in agreement.

* * *

When Demande returned home from walking Usagi to her bus stop, he immediately walked over to the top of the fireplace that held the Ruby and Emerald. He picked them up in one hand and sat on his couch so that he could watch them closely waiting for something to happen, although, he didn't know what.

He placed the black crystal earrings in his ears and concentrated with all his might into the red and green gems, so much so that the colors bled into his vision

A half an hour passed with only the sounds of the ticking of the clock and still, there was no change.

The phone began to rang, startling Demande slightly.

"Satoshi speaking." Demande answered.

"Nii-san, It's me." Sapphir told him on the other end of the line.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I was just calling to let you know I was held up from the storm while I was at school but I'm on my way home now and happened to find a payphone so I thought I'd let you know in case you were worried."

"Oh, that's good. Please make it home safely." Demande replied.

"Will do, bye, Nii-san." Sapphir said before hanging up.

Demande hung up the receiver and went back where the gems were.

He found himself growing tired and decided that he would try his luck on another day, but he was definitely more hopeful about reviving his fallen comrades than he had been in a while.

When he placed each one back on it's satin pillow, he retired to his room where he plopped down on his bed that was now in disarray due to Usagi tearing it apart.

He lied back and wondered about the nightmares Usagi had been having about him. It all made sense as to why she reacted so badly when she saw him for the first time. But why now? Why would she all of a sudden start having these dreams when he came back to Earth?

' _He told me Mamo-chan was dead."_

If only that were true.

Demande turned over on his side and let out a grunt of frustration before his thoughts carried him into sleep.

* * *

Unbeknownst to him, the panel that allowed access to the extra room that held the black crystal activated and the door began to open on its own. A dark aura exited the room, that would be invisible to those who were unable to sense such things, and traveled under the cracks of Demandes bedroom door.

The black crystal earrings that Demande had forgotten to remove began to glow an intense purple, inducing him into a deep, deep slumber.

The doors to the 'other room' then closed again.

* * *

"Sire, Sire?" someone called to him as they jerked on his sleeve.

He opened his eyes to find none other than Rubeus sitting next to him.

This caused Demande to jolt into an awakened state.

"Rubeus, you're here, you're alive!" Demande said grabbing onto Rubeus's arms.

Rubeus looked at him as if he were a madman before chuckling slightly, "Isn't it I who should be saying that?"

Demande noticed Rubeus was dressed differently than he usually did. He outfit looked to be more like what an official general would wear rather than the rebellious attire he would always have on.

"Are we on Nemesis?" Demande asked him.

"Why no, we left there 3 days ago but, I'm afraid Prince Sapphir made some miscalculations so our landing was rather rough and you seemed to have bumped your head and have been out of consciousness ever since. Don't you remember?" he asked him.

"No..I..did you say Prince...Sapphir?" Demande asked.

Rubeus had never called him that before. Although Sapphir was technically a prince as well, he was never referred to in that way by anyone, especially Rubeus, who hardly even recognised him as his official title as Demande's first in command.

"Yes, I'm afraid we got a bit behind schedule because of it, but we should be home shortly so it's good that you're finally awake." he said.

"And where is home if we are not on Nemesis?" Demande asked hesitantly.

Rubeus looked to him again as if he were crazy, "Man, that really must have been a nasty bump to the head to make you forget such a thing. Did you forget that you're king too?" he said with a chuckle.

Demande's eyes widened.

Rubeus noticed this reaction and now looked concerned. "We really should get you looked at once we arrive back at the palace. Do you even know where you are right now?"

Demande finally looked around at his surroundings. It appeared as if they were sitting in some kind of luxury car, but when he looked out the window it wasn't a car at all but rather a large, white carriage that was being pulled by a dozen white horses. The curious thing about it was that the carriage didn't have any wheels and simply hovered which is why he hadn't felt even the slightest bump in the rode and wouldn't have even known the carriage was moving, yet it was moving faster than any car would.

The road they were taking had large bodies of water on either side of them and as he looked further, he saw that they were nearing a large city.

Demande looked back to Rubeus.

"Where is it we are going?" he asked.

Rubeus replied, "We are going home, sire, to Crystal Tokyo."

* * *

 _Author's Note: I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope you are looking forward to the next chapter, which will be longer btw. Be sure to review and...here's to 2018!_


End file.
